Dreams Of An Absolution
by VibeQuake
Summary: Merlinians, Romans, Greeks, and Westerners. Four very different civilisations from different time periods. All four of the civilisations now share a miniature diorama exhibit in the Museum of Natural History and are waking up for the first time. How will they handle the other civilisations' vastly different cultures and ways? Includes characters from Sorcerer's Apprentice 2010
1. Chapter 1

When Jill's lungs took their first breath in over a century, the first thought running through her mind was _this is wrong._ But she forced herself to take more breaths and focus later on why and how she was now alive.

Around her, she spotted faces she recognised—faces of people she had thought long dead. There, large as life, was Veronica, a woman who had died trying to save Camelot from Morgana the evil sorceress. She had been Jill's idol, even though Jill had never actually met her—she had died when Jill was only a baby. She had been Jill's inspiration to not give up on magic, after…after that day…

She refused to think about that. It seemed to prove that her memories were intact, at least.

Now that all her bodily functions were working, her mind turned automatically to how she was alive. She distinctly remembered dying as a result of stopping the tsunami that Morgana, the same sorceress who had claimed Veronica's life, had conjured up to destroy Camelot. She still shivered every time she remembered the cold water crashing down on her, crushing her body. She forced herself to not think about it.

Instead, she looked round and spotted her father-figure and mentor, Balthazar, leaning against a wall a little way off. Her heart filling with joy, she ran over to him like a newborn colt on unsteady legs and accidentally stumbled into him.

"Jillian, you need to be more careful," Balthazar scolded, placing her upright. "You can't just go running all over the place like that." Jill folded her arms and grinned, waiting for Balthazar to notice. "You could seriously hurt yourself or someone else, not just with your magic, but also if you fell into…them…"

He trailed off. He frowned deeply and stared at Jill who giggled madly. "JILL!" Balthazar suddenly yelled in joy, grabbing Jill and swinging her around happily. "I can't believe it's you!"

As Balthazar put her down, Jill hugged her mentor tightly. "I missed you," she said, tears of happiness coming into her eyes. "You were the last person in my mind when I…when I…"

Jill squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head downwards as more memories of her death flooded into her head.

"Don't think about that," Balthazar said, hugging Jill again. "I'm just glad you're here now."

"But how ARE we here?" Jill asked, stepping back. "I was dead. And now I'm alive again? How?"

"I don't know," Balthazar replied, frowning. "I should be dead too. I remember dying."

"How, if I may ask?"

Balthazar gave Jill a look, which reminded her so much of her days as an apprentice under the strict and serious mentor. "I don't think you're ready for that story."

Jill scowled. "I died before you."

"That's irrelevant," Balthazar said. "I'm still your mentor and I can still tell you what to do."

As Balthazar turned away, Jill mouthed, _I'm still your mentor and I can still tell you what to do_ , mimicking Balthazar. "By the way, Veronica's over there."

Balthazar immediately swung round and almost slammed his hands on Jill's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "What? Veronica? She's here?"

Jill nodded smugly and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "She was over there."

Balthazar let go of Jill and ran to the place Jill had woken up. Jill spotted Veronica at the same time as Balthazar did. She beamed as she watched their tearful reunion. The two of them were married and had a daughter together. That daughter's name was Genie, and she was Jill's best friend. She was also a sorcerer.

Balthazar had been utterly devastated when Veronica had died. Jill didn't want to imagine what her own death had done to poor Balthazar. He had already suffered the loss of one apprentice in training even before Veronica's death. Losing three people whom he was close to—one of whom was his wife—must have been very traumatic.

Speaking of Veronica, Jill knew her daughter must be around here somewhere. Genie was her very best friend, apart from perhaps one other person (whom she was saving until last because she didn't dare to hope he was here), and Jill wanted desperately to find her.

Pushing through the crowds of Merlinians, she searched for her best friend. She saw a few people whose deaths she had seen or heard about, and it just increased her curiosity as to why and how they were all alive again.

As she turned round desperately in the middle of the stone plaza, she caught sight of the person she was looking for: a girl who was over a decade younger than Jill herself was at twenty-four. She had red hair and freckles, she seemed to be looking for someone too.

"Genie!" yelled Jill across the square. "Genie!"

The ten-year-old girl turned. "Jill!" she cried.

The two girls raced across the square towards each other and threw themselves into each other's arms. Genie was sobbing as she clutched Jill's shirt. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she sobbed. "When you died, I-I was so broken! I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I didn't want to do anything!"

"It's okay," Jill soothed. "I'm here now. But what about you? Did you live a long life?"

"No," sighed Genie, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "I was killed when Morgana attacked our section of Camelot. I-I burnt to death."

Jill felt Genie shudder, so she hugged the girl tighter. "It's okay," she said again. "You don't have to think about it."

"I heard from Lancelot that my death was what inspired Dad to fight Morgana as viciously as he did."

"Is…is that how he died?" Jill asked hesitantly. "I asked him but he wouldn't tell me."

Genie was also hesitant. "I don't know. I assumed so but I don't know for certain."

"If even Balthazar couldn't defeat Morgana, how did Morgana die?" Jill asked. A nasty thought occurred to her. "Or is that why we're all alive: everybody was killed by Morgana?"

"I heard she was defeated eventually by a fusion of King Arthur and Merlin, the two most powerful people in Camelot." Genie suddenly pulled away and looked Jill in the eyes with an expression that was hard to read. "You know who I just saw?"

Jill shook her head. "Who?"

"Galahad," Genie said pointedly.

Jill took in a sharp breath and stared at Genie. "Ga-Galahad…? He's h-here?"

Genie nodded excitedly, before seeing Jill's expression. Her face dropped. "Aren't you excited?"

Jill bit her lip. "I should be. It's just that…it was hard enough seeing you and Balthazar after my death. I don't want to see how hard my death was on Galahad too."

"If you ask me, that's all the more reason to see him," Genie pointed out. "I'm sure he's looking for you. You need to reassure him that you are okay."

"But I don't want to reassure him if I don't know why I'm okay," Jill said. "I mean, I died."

"So did he," Genie said.

Jill's face creased into a worried look. "He…he did? H-how?"

Genie looked away. "It was between your death and mine. He was fighting some Mayans and he…he was struck by an arrow. Dad did all the healing magic he could think of, but…he didn't make it."

Jill felt the hot sting of tears behind her eyelids. "Where is he?" she asked.

Genie smiled triumphantly and pointed in the opposite direction to the one Jill had come in from. "Over there."

Jill gave Genie one last hug, before running off to see the man she loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Julius cursed over and over again, using the names of all the gods he could remember, from Jupiter to Apollo. Why had he woken up in the most isolated corner of this accursed place, wherever this place was? Now his crippled leg was in agony and there was nobody to help him. Gripping his leg in pain, he looked around. The place he was in had Roman architecture but it seemed foreign to him. He felt a kind of pull towards it; he knew it was Roman but he didn't recognise it. And yet, he felt he should.

He desperately searched the ground for his cane. Without the slender piece of wood, he was practically useless. To his relief, he spotted it lying on the ground a few metres away. Unfortunately, it was too far away for him to reach. He strained for a few moments, before deciding he was going to have to suck it up and crawl. This, however, failed, and a few minutes later, he was found attempting to drag himself across the ground by a couple of soldiers.

One of the soldiers, a legionary, folded his arms and smirked down at him. "Are you a man or a sack of potatoes? I'm confused."

"Shut up, Cassius," Julius said in frustration. When both of the soldiers simply watched him struggle, he snapped, "Are either of you idiots going to help me?"

The other legionary, Rufus, blinked as if just waking up. He went over to Julius's cane, picked it up, and placed it within Julius's reach. "THANK you, Rufus," Julius said pointedly, glaring at Cassius, who shrugged.

"Hey, I fight bad people. I don't babysit."

Julius scowled and managed to drag himself to his feet using his cane. "Do either of you know why we're all suddenly alive again?"

"Sure, let me just consult the book of strange, unearthly happenings and skip to the chapter on coming back from the dead two thousand years after death."

Julius considered hitting Cassius in the gut with his cane, but he figured there'd be plenty of time for that later. "Is there anyone else alive?"

Cassius opened his mouth but Rufus, who had apparently also had enough, nudged him. "Please do not reply with sarcasm," he said. "Julius is not the only one becoming annoyed by it."

Cassius shrugged and stepped back. "I wasn't going to, but fine. In answer to your question, yes: everybody's in the square."

"And…" Julius paused, his heart filling with hope. "And Octavius?"

"General Octavius is fine," Cassius replied. "He's currently attempting to gauge the situation in the square."

"I have to find him." Julius leant hard on his cane as he began to try and walk through the stinging pain in his leg. "I have to make sure he's okay."

"Last time I looked, he was barking out random orders like usual."

Julius glared at Cassius. "Don't you dare speak ill of your general."

"He's your general too," Cassius retorted sullenly.

"But he's also Julius's third cousin," added Rufus.

"And I'm also the only person who can talk back to him without fear of repercussion," Julius added. "Which reminds me: leave the sarcasm to me from now on, Cassius. It doesn't suit someone of your rank."

Cassius hissed and stepped back another step. Rufus bit his lip, half amused, half worried. Julius smirked. "How's that?" he shot at the legionary.

"You don't have a rank, really," snapped Cassius. "You're not even a legionary."

"At least I'm not replaceable," Julius shot back.

"Sir!" snapped Rufus.

Feeling proud of himself for thinking of such a quick and scathing comeback, Julius glanced at Rufus's face and that proud feeling quickly evaporated as he remembered that Rufus was also a legionary. "I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "But I can't say I didn't mean it."

Rufus nodded but he still seemed angry. "Thank you for not lying about that. But you're wrong: we're not replaceable."

"He is. You're not," Julius said. "Do you know why? Because you're a loyal, respectful, obedient, and skilled soldier. The army needs more people like you. Cassius, unfortunately, has only one of those qualities."

"Hey!" Cassius snapped.

"Come on, I just called you skilled," Julius said airily. "Anyway, insulting you was not my intention, Rufus. I am sorry."

"I forgive you," Rufus said, though he still didn't look too happy. "And thank you for speaking so highly of me."

Julius began hobbling in the direction of the square, beckoning for Rufus to join him, which the legionary did, leaving the angry Cassius behind. "Octavius thinks highly of you, you know," Julius said. "Like I said, you're loyal, obedient, and respectful. Only very few soldiers have all three of those qualities."

"Thank you, sir," Rufus said. His face then turned more serious and he decided to ask the question on his mind when it was apparent that Julius was not going to mention it. "Why are we alive? What brought us back?"

"That's what I'm hoping Octavius can answer," sighed Julius. "Poor man. He's probably getting bombarded by thousands of similar questions, but people are scared. People need answers. And people think that such respected and powerful generals like Octavius can provide answers, even if they're just as uninformed as the people."

"Do you think _everyone_ has come back to life?" pressed Rufus. "Or just-."

"Legionary Rufus, I really don't know," Julius snapped, causing Rufus to step back with a scowl. "Stop asking me questions to which I don't know the answers."

"I am sorry, _sir_ ," Rufus said, the last word sounding rather forced.

Julius grumpily limped away, leaning perhaps a bit too heavily on his cane. He knew he should really have paid more attention to learning how to walk without his cane but the truth was that he didn't _want_ to learn how to walk without his cane. If he was being completely honest with himself, people took him more seriously as a crippled strategist than they ever would as an able soldier.

Even though Julius had told Rufus he was not replaceable, Julius had the rather gloomy outlook on life that _everybody_ was replaceable, except Octavius. If Julius had not been hit by that stampeding horse when he was a child and become crippled, he was sure he would have remained a legionary for his entire military career. Octavius had taken pity on him after his accident, promoting him to Junior Tribune. This meant that Julius was able to make and chart maps, take notes, write reports, and devise strategies without ever having to go into battle. He was still useful—debatably more useful than if he were a legionary—and he was still contributing to the Roman Empire without actually having to fight.

And it was all thanks to Octavius.


	3. Chapter 3

Ambrosia coughed as she regained consciousness. She found herself lying on the floor, a cold and hard floor that felt like paving stones. Her lungs felt diseased and her windpipe felt like it was being pressed under a large pillar. She gasped for air as her body came back to life.

Then someone was calling her name.

"Damnit, someone get me Hippocrates!"

Ambrosia tried to speak the name of her mentor, but she couldn't form the words. Archimedes placed his fingers gently on her neck to feel for a pulse.

"I…okay…" she croaked, wishing she could say more to comfort her mentor.

"Where the devil have you been?" demanded Archimedes.

As Ambrosia had her eyes closed, she did not know if her mentor was talking to her, but this question was answered a few moments later when Hippocrates's voice said irritably back, "In case you haven't noticed, there are thousands of people around here, Archimedes. All of which might need medical attention."

"But Ambrosia needs medical attention _now_!"

"Then give me some space to work with!" snapped Hippocrates.

Ambrosia felt someone begin to examine her chest and neck.

"She's barely breathing! Can't you work faster?!"

"Archimedes, back off or so help me I will personally make sure you will never have children!"

Ambrosia heard Archimedes muttering some curses and insults under his breath but he fell silent after a few seconds. Ambrosia herself was still desperately struggling for breath. She felt someone cut her arm but the pain was lost in her struggle for oxygen. She knew that Hippocrates must be bloodletting her. She wished she could tell the physician that too much blood was definitely not the problem here.

Luckily, Archimedes said almost exactly that a moment later: "You're doing it wrong!" he snapped. "She doesn't need less blood, she needs oxygen!"

"Do YOU want to treat this woman?" Hippocrates said irritably.

"I'm sure I'd do a better job than YOU'RE doing," retorted Archimedes.

Ambrosia had had enough. In any other situation, it would be fun to listen to their bickering, but not when Ambrosia was on the verge of running out of oxygen because of their petty arguing.

"Enough!" she croaked shrilly, her damaged windpipe only just allowing her voice to be heard.

The two powerful men fell silent, and Ambrosia felt now two pairs of hands examining her.

"What are you doing?" demanded Hippocrates's voice.

"She's my apprentice," said Archimedes, his voice softer than before. "I want to help."

"Thank you."

Ambrosia really was running out of air. Her lungs were barely working and her windpipe felt inflamed. Her breathing was very shallow now, which Hippocrates seemed to pick up on. "Damnit, we're losing her!"

"We _can't_ lose her!" shouted Archimedes's worried voice. "Ambrosia, can you hear me?"

She desperately wanted to answer her mentor but she couldn't even manage a nod.

Then a strange voice with a strange accent spoke up: "Here, use this!"

There was silence for a few moments as something happened that Ambrosia couldn't see. Then she felt a strange device be fit over her mouth. Instantly, fresh oxygen flowed into her mouth, down her windpipe, and into her lungs. Her breathing became more regular as her lungs processed this very fresh oxygen.

It was not long after this that she found the strength to open her eyes. Two faces swam into view: Hippocrates and Archimedes. Both men seemed very relieved to see that she was all right. She weakly lifted her shaking right hand and felt the thing that was over her mouth. It felt like no material she had ever touched before.

"I wouldn't take that off just yet," Archimedes said. "It saved your life."

Ambrosia took it off anyway. "Did you want me to say thank you to it?" she snapped.

Hippocrates turned to a young man standing nearby, who was dressed in odd clothes with a Stetson hat on his head. "What is that? I have never seen or heard of it before."

"An air machine," the young man replied. "It has its own supply of fresh oxygen, which can be used to treat people who are suffering from a lack of air."

"Thank you," Hippocrates said.

Archimedes looked up and narrowed his eyes at the young man. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you dressed so oddly?"

The young man gave the mathematician a cool look. "My name is Chase. And to _mah_ people, _ya_ dress oddly."

"Your people?" repeated Hippocrates. "Who are your people?"

Ambrosia suddenly felt the pain of the cut on her arm, letting out a cry and clutching the wound. She glared at Hippocrates, who awkwardly got out a bandage and began winding it around her wound. "Did you really think that bloodletting would help someone who couldn't breathe?"

"That's what _I_ said!" said Archimedes triumphantly.

"In my defence, I had no idea that this kind of technology existed." Hippocrates turned the device over in his hands. "Mind if I borrow this for a while?"

"Keep it," Chase said. "We got loads and ya got none."

Hippocrates got to his feet and wandered off, examining the device in his hand as if it were a fallen star.

Ambrosia looked down at her blood-soaked hand. "Is there a well nearby?" she asked of the two men.

But it was Chase who answered: "There's one over there," he said, pointing. "Want me to escort ya? It might be dangerous for such a lovely lady like yaself."

Ambrosia blushed. Archimedes saw this. "I can take you," he said crossly.

"Do you know where the well is?" Ambrosia asked him, causing him to scowl and fall silent.

"I got this," Chase said, extending a hand to help Ambrosia up. "I'll protect ya daughter."

"She's my apprentice," said Archimedes irritably. "And I don't want her going off with a man she just met."

"I'll be fine," Ambrosia said. "Chase saved my life."

Archimedes got to his feet and kept scowling. "Fine but find me in exactly one hour. You must continue your studies."

Ambrosia nodded and allowed Chase to lead her away.

"Studies?" Chase asked.

"Archimedes is a great mathematician," Ambrosia replied. "I am his apprentice."

"So ya are a mathematician too?"

"In a manner of speaking," Ambrosia said. "I have not finished my studies. I-." She suddenly broke off, realising something. "I-I died…"

"Ya died?" repeated Chase in confusion.

"There was a plague," Ambrosia recalled. "I was among the very few in my village to get it. I remember pain in my head and chest and windpipe. I remember my heart failing. I died of infection."

"Then how are ya alive?" Chase asked.

Ambrosia shrugged. "I don't know."

They reached the well. It seemed to be on the edge of a desert town. When Ambrosia looked the way they had just come in, she saw Greek architecture. The other direction simply held sand and wooden buildings.

Chase brought up a bucket of water from the well and began cleaning Ambrosia's hand for her, causing her to become flushed. It was the closest she had ever been to such a good-looking young man like Chase. She tried to cover up her embarrassment by asking, "So what about you?"

"Did I die, ya mean?"

Ambrosia nodded awkwardly.

"Yeah," Chase replied. "Was in a shootout with a guy in mah town. Shot me straight through the heart."

"Ouch," commented Ambrosia sympathetically.

"Was a lot less painful than I'm sure yer death was." Chase sighed. "I feel sorry for mah town. I don't mean to brag but I was a great doctor in mah town. Our sheriff, Jedediah, called me the best. Jed was a close friend o' mine too. Hope mah death didn't affect him too much."

"The sheriff was your leader?" asked Ambrosia.

Chase frowned. "I guess so."

Ambrosia giggled, taking Chase aback. "Sorry, I just tried to imagine Hippocrates being close friends with King Alexander."

"Who?"

"Alexander the Great," replied Ambrosia. "Our great king."

"An' Hippo-crates must be that doctor guy, right?"

Ambrosia nodded. "Yes. He's a very talented physician."

"Can't be," Chase said off-handedly. "He'd never seen an oxygen machine before."

"We don't have that kind of technology," Ambrosia said. "As you saw, the things we do are bloodletting and trephining." She let out a little gasp, startling Chase. "I am VERY glad Hippocrates did not try and trephine."

"What's that?"

"Drilling a hole into the side of one's head to relieve pressure," Ambrosia replied casually.

Chase almost knocked the bucket back into the well. "Seriously? That's-that's horrible!"

"It's what we do," shrugged Ambrosia. "Sure it kills people sometimes, but it helps twice as many others."

Chase was staring at Ambrosia, who tried to meet his gorgeous eyes but failed because of the horror in them. "Yer people are barbaric."

Ambrosia pulled her hand away from Chase, offended. "And what exactly is a "shootout"?" she demanded.

Chase chuckled, infuriating Ambrosia further, until he said, "Fair point. Anyway, I should go and fin' mah friends. Soon as I woke up, I heard yer friends yelling so I went straight over."

As Chase turned away, Ambrosia blurted out, "Thank you for saving my life."

Chase turned his head, shot a disarmingly handsome smile at Ambrosia, and said, "No problem." Then he turned back and headed out into the desert town.

Ambrosia watched him go, embarrassed at herself.

 _Get a hold of yourself, Ambrosia. It's not like you've never seen a handsome guy before_.

 _No, but it's not like a handsome guy has ever looked at you like that before,_ said another voice in her head.

"Shut up," she muttered aloud, though she knew that she was hoping she would see Chase again.


	4. Chapter 4

As Chase walked away from the well, he couldn't stop a smile at the memory of the beautiful woman whose name he hadn't even been told; though he remembered that the doctor guy had called her "Ambrosia". He decided on the spot that the name really suited her. He was glad that she hadn't turned out to be the kind of woman who agreed with everything a man said. He hadn't really meant it when he said that her people were barbaric (though—drilling into someone's head? Seriously?); he had just been testing her to see what she'd say, hoping that she would respond angrily. And she had: she had deftly turned the discussion around onto the point of shootouts.

Causing Chase to seriously rethink the point of his own death.

As he reached his town, he saw people everywhere. It had been at least half an hour since everyone had woken up so there was confusion in the air but no panic. Chase saw several couples being reunited, both with each other and with their children. He continued on towards the town hall, where the sheriff's office was. As he approached it from the side, he saw a familiar girl coming out of it.

"Hi Melody," Chase called.

Melody turned and saw Chase. "Thought ya died."

"Nice ta see ya too," Chase grinned. "Is Jed in there?"

"He certainly is." Melody sniffed. "Still his same ol' self."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Chase.

Melody gave a casual shrug. "By the way, there's a girl in there lookin' for ya."

"Girl?" repeated Chase. "Who?"

"I ain't gonna tell ya when yer a few metres away from findin' out for yerself!" Melody complained, beginning to walk away.

"Nice talk," Chase called to Melody's back.

He went into the town hall and found the blonde-haired Westerner coming out of his office. "Chase!"

"Hey Jed."

Jed punched Chase on the bicep in a friendly manner, though it was definitely not a soft punch. Chase gave a yelp and rubbed his arm. "What were that for?"

"For dyin'," Jed grinned, though Chase could see a sorrow in his eyes.

"Jed…I'm sorry."

Jed looked surprised. "Fer what?"

"For dyin'," grinned Chase, matching Jed's earlier words.

Jed suddenly grabbed Chase in a tight hug. "I couldn' believe it when I saw ya had died," the sheriff said quietly.

"I would have been able to save me," Chase said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

But Jed didn't take the bait. "I almost had Bennett killed on the spot. Hell, _Nikki_ almos' killed 'im on the spot."

"Nikki!" gasped Chase, pulling away. "Where is she?"

"In there." Jed jerked his thumb towards his office.

Realising that Nikki must be the girl Melody said wanted to see him, Chase quickly pushed past Jed and entered the office. Standing in the middle of the rustic room was a familiar girl with short brown hair. She spun round as Chase entered the room, and that was when Chase saw her green eyes and freckles.

Her eyes filled with tears and she ran at Chase, tackling him in a fierce hug. Just as Chase was hugging her back, she let go of him, slapped his face, and hugged him again.

"Easy, Nikki," complained Chase.

"Don't ever die again, do ya hear me?!" Nikki yelled.

"I'll try not ta," Chase grumbled, though he was secretly very pleased to see his twin sister again.

"Do ya have any idea what yer death did ta me?!" Nikki stepped back and glared ferociously at her brother. "I nearly rushed out there and straight-up killed someone!"

"I heard," Chase said quietly. "An' I'm so sorry, Nikki."

Nikki took another step back, her cross expression softening. "Well…I guess ya can' control when yer gonna die…"

Chase smirked and nudged her shoulder with his fist. "Love ya, sis."

"Hate ya, bro."

Just then, Jed poked his head around the door. "Hey, guys. I'm summoning everyone ou'side."

"Comin'."

Chase and Nikki followed Jed outside, where the sheriff went off to talk to his deputy. With a jolt, Chase recognised Bennett, with his overlarge Stetson covering his face. Despite this, Chase recognised him; he was wearing the exact same clothes as he had been wearing when he had killed Chase, and he also had the same gun. Chase felt a stab of emotion in his heart and he turned away.

"He gotta lotta nerve," growled Nikki from beside him.

"It's okay." Chase placed a hand on his twin's shoulder, preventing her from rushing Bennett. "He got as much right ta be here as we do."

"No he don't," grumbled Nikki but she fell silent.

Jed came back over to the two of them. "Chase, I'm makin' ya my new deputy."

Chase blinked, staring at Jed. "What?"

"Bennet killed ya in a shootout that weren't meant to be a deadly one. That's dishonourable. Since ya were my second choice for deputy, ya got a promotion."

Chase almost forgot how to breathe. He couldn't believe that he had received a promotion: for dying, no less! He was snapped out of it by Nikki hitting him on the back. "Stop lookin' so gormless and say somethin'!"

"Th-thank ya," Chase stammered to Jed, who chuckled.

"Just don' let me down."

"I-I won't." Chase saluted. "Thank ya."

At that moment, a loud gong sounded, making everybody look upwards, startled.

"What were that?" demanded Nikki.

"I dunno," Jed replied thoughtfully. "But it came from over there."

The gong sounded again. "It sounds like someone's summonin' us," Chase mused. "A trap?"

"Most likely," replied Jed. "But we won' know if we don' go."

"Maybe not everyone should go," suggested Chase. "Maybe just five o' the best fighters? That way, we're strong enough to fight back if it's a trap but we won' look like we're lookin' for trouble."

Jed grinned and punched Chase on the shoulder again. "Ya haven' been my deputy fer five minutes an' yer already thinkin' like one. I'd like yer to round up Melody. I'm takin' you four."

"Us four?" repeated Nikki.

"Yeah. Me, Chase, ya, and Melody."

"I didn' know I was one o' the best fighters." Nikki smiled humbly. "Thanks."

"Chase, round up Melody," Jed ordered again. "We're gonna see who's summonin' us and what they want."

…

 **Forgot to do the disclaimer a while ago, so here it is: Mythicalnightguard owns Rufus, Athena, and Melody (and a couple of other characters but they come later). Nightflame203 created Nikki for me. I do not own Jed or Octavius. If you recognise a name—whether historical or fictional—I do not own them. I will say that I own Jill, Julius, Ambrosia, and Chase.**


	5. Chapter 5

Jill had not had the opportunity to see Galahad because the gong sounded before she had a chance to find him. She followed everyone else to a large circle of paved land that was big enough to house all the people from all four civilisations. A large round podium was in the middle, and on this platform stood a single man in a long, white, ceremonial-looking robe.

Meanwhile, Julius narrowed his eyes as he recognised the lone man. "Senator Petronius," he muttered. "What does that idiot think he's doing up there?"

"You would be wise to speak better of your elders," said Octavius as the general slid in to stand beside his cousin.

Julius blinked. "But he's an idiot."

Octavius hesitated, apparently trying to decide whether to argue or not. "Nevertheless, you must speak about your elders with more respect."

"So you admit he's an idiot?"

"Julius," snapped Octavius, and even Julius did not miss the warning tone in the general's voice.

"Sorry. I will throw myself down in front of him and beg for eternal slavery."

"Julius," sighed Octavius again, sounding resigned.

"What?"

At that moment, Petronius began speaking: "Citizens, I stand before you as the only remaining member of the Senate."

The hum of shocked conversation started up amongst the Romans.

"What?" muttered Octavius, sounding shocked. "Where is the rest of the Senate?"

"If they've got any sense, they'll be in an isolated corner somewhere, plotting Petronius's untimely and completely accidental demise."

Octavius glared at his cousin but Petronius continued speaking before he could say anything. "I name myself sole senator of Rome and, therefore, the leader of the people."

"Jus' a minute!" yelled a female Westerner. "Ya can't make yerself leader o' everyone!"

"Melody-" hissed a Westerner by her side.

"She has a point," said Jill, standing on top of the base of one of the large lamps so she could be seen and heard. "We Merlinians have our own leader, and I'm sure the others do too. You can't just override their authority in their respective civilisations."

To Julius's delight, this made Petronius scowl. "Then will the leaders from each civilisation please come up so we can reach an understanding?"

The people watched as three men, including Jed, ascended onto the platform and stood beside Petronius. Standing next to Nikki, Chase winced. Compared to Alexander the Great, King Arthur, and even Petronius, Jed looked rather unimpressive.

"Perhaps we should form our own Senate," suggested Arthur. "Seeing as the decisions we make will affect all our people."

"I agree," said Alexander.

"Me too," Jed contributed.

Julius could not stop grinning at the choked look on Petronius's face. Clearly the senator had been hoping he would be able to rule on his own. Julius glanced across at Octavius and found that even his cousin was stifling a pleased look.

"Very well then." To his credit, Petronius recovered very quickly. "We can use the Senate building. Come, let us discuss things."

"Wait!" Chase called suddenly, before he could stop himself. "I think there shoul' be a kinda deputy for each leader. Just in case."

"I agree!" shouted Nikki, to Chase's relief.

Petronius was probably just about to argue when Jed spoke up: "I'd feel more comfortable with that too."

"As would I," agreed Arthur.

Alexander just gave a nod.

"Very well," sighed Petronius. "Choose whomever you like."

"I choose Chase," Jed called into the audience. "Yer my deputy after all."

As Chase began to head to the platform, Alexander and Arthur picked out Socrates and Balthazar respectively to be their seconds. Just as Petronius began walking towards Rome, Arthur stopped him. "Should you not have a second too?"

Petronius gnashed his teeth but he forced a smile and pointed in the direction of Octavius and Julius. "You, General Octavius. Come."

Octavius, honoured to be recognised by the senator, began to follow Petronius when Julius reached out and caught his wrist, forcing him to stop. "Be careful," warned Julius. "I don't trust Petronius."

"Is this because you think him an idiot?" Octavius asked, eyes narrowed.

Julius paused. "Well...I do think he's an idiot, but that's beside the point. I don't trust him as far as I can kick him with this leg." Julius tapped his crippled leg with his cane. "He tried to rule four civilisations on his own, Octavius! And besides...I think there's something he's not telling us about the rest of the Senate's disappearance. It's all too convenient for my liking."

"General," called Petronius impatiently.

"I have to go," Octavius said, trying to pull his wrist out of Julius's grip.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Julius said quietly, letting go of Octavius's wrist as he looked down at the ground. The general could see how serious Julius was being for once so he gently put his hand on his cousin's shoulder.

"Thank you for worrying about me and for telling me your concerns, but I can handle myself. I will be cautious but so far I see no reason to distrust our senator."

Julius nodded, knowing his cousin was going to say that. "I know. Just keep an eye on him."

"General!" Petronius snapped again, sounding more impatient. Octavius quickly gave a small wave to Julius and began walking away.

"Good luck and don't get crushed by the size of his ambition to rule the world," Julius called after his cousin, earning him an unamused look from the general.

As the eight people began walking towards the senate building, Julius couldn't shake the feeling that something about this entire situation was off. He hoped he'd be able to figure it out before his cousin or anyone else got hurt.

...

 **Mythicalnightguard owns Petronius**


	6. Chapter 6

As the crowd began to disperse back to their respective cities, Jill sat down on the edge of the platform, looking in the direction of the senate building, which she could just about see the top of over the other Roman buildings. She was worried. She didn't know if anyone shared her concerns but she suspected Petronius was not all he seemed. She was worried for Balthazar, most of all. Even though he was powerful and could take care of himself, she knew that he could become unfocused when threatened by people he cared about, especially Veronica or even Jill herself. Petronius definitely seemed like the kind of person who would threaten in order to get what he wanted.

Someone hopped onto the platform next to her. "I thought it was you!" said a chirpy female voice. "Remember me?"

Jill sighed and looked away from the girl. "Hi Lydia."

"You look really good, considering you...you know..."

"Died," finished Jill sullenly. "I know, Lydia."

Lydia was the daughter of Merlin, who was the world's most powerful sorcerer and the only person to ever have a hope of defeating Morgana. Lydia was also a sorceress but she inherited this from her father instead of earning it like Jill and the other sorcerers. Not that Lydia abused her power; in fact, she was maddeningly noble with her powers. Jill disliked her because, in her eyes, Lydia had not actually earned the right to call herself a sorceress, despite the other sorcerers' opinions that she had.

"Did you notice how only he survived?" Lydia asked.

Jill jerked out of her thoughts and stared blankly at Lydia. "What?"

"That wasn't worded very well. Hang on." Lydia scrunched up her face for a moment, thinking. Eventually, she said, "he seems to be the most ambitious of the Senate, even though I haven't met the other senators. It's a pretty big coincidence if the only senator who survived was the one most likely to kill off the others."

Jill considered this. Lydia had a point: Petronius did seem like the kind of person who would kill for power. It WOULD be a hell of a coincidence if he was the only one who survived out of a senate of who knew how many.

At that moment, something flittered in Jill's vision. She turned in time to see a shadow fly past the empty square and disappear into the West. She cautiously got up from the platform and squinted into the West.

"What's up?" Lydia asked.

"I think I saw something go this way." Swallowing her pride, Jill asked, "Can you come check it out with me?"

Lydia blinked as if surprised by this. "Um...okay."

She followed Jill into the West. Immediately, they felt warmer as they edged further in. "This is weird," muttered Jill.

"What did you see?" Lydia asked, not hearing.

"It was just a shadow, but I think I know who it was."

They reached an abandoned log cabin. The two girls made sure it was empty, before coming outside again. "It must be around here somewhere," Jill mused.

All of a sudden, something slammed into Lydia and sent her flying back into the square, out of sight. Jill turned, magic at the ready. "Show yourself!"

The figure who materialised was dressed like a wealthy Victorian man complete with a cane. Jill narrowed her eyes. "Horvath."

Her hand came up but before she could do any magic, Horvath pinned her to the side of the cabin using magic. To her frustration, her palms were against the wood so she was unable to use magic to attack or free herself.

"What the hell do you want?" she snarled.

"Why, my goal has been the same for the last century," Horvath said coolly.

"Releasing Morgana," said Jill disgustedly. "God only knows why."

"She has the power to give me power," Horvath said. "And after she destroys humanity, we will rule the world together."

"You're delusional," stated Jill. "Do you really think Morgana will even give you power, let alone rule with you?"

"Yes," replied Horvath simply.

Jill blinked. "You're even crazier than I thought."

"Enough."

Horvath swept his hand through the air, tossing Jill to the ground. A moment later, hot pain struck her back and made her scream. She tried to do magic to stop the pain but she couldn't concentrate and the pain just got worse.

Until it suddenly stopped.

Jill rolled onto her back and looked up. Lydia was standing over her, limbs and posture completely straight. Her arm was outstretched towards Horvath, whom she had gripped in an invisible force.

"Leave Jill alone," she snarled.

With her other hand, she shot a plasma bolt at Horvath, who promptly disappeared, leaving the bolt to fly into the distance.

Lydia turned to Jill and extended a hand. Lydia helped Jill to her feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah," grumbled Jill, mostly embarrassed that Lydia had had to save her. "Thanks."

"What did he want?" Lydia asked.

"You do remember who that is, right?"

Lydia gave Jill a scathing look. "Two centuries asleep hasn't erased my memory, Jill."

Jill rolled her eyes. "He wants to free Morgana and he was embarrassed that we saw him so easily. Now he's upped his game and he's probably going to cause untold mayhem while being completely invisible."

Lydia sighed. "I wish Dad was here. He could stop Horvath."

"WE can stop Horvath," Jill pointed out. "He wants to raise Morgana. We'd need your dad to defeat HER."

At that moment, someone came half stumbling half running into the West. It was the Westerner whom Jedediah had called his deputy. Was his name Chase? He looked dishevelled and there was a gash between his right eye and his right ear. He seemed to be heading towards the town but just as he passed the two sorcerers, he collapsed in the dust.

"Lydia-"

"I'm on it." Lydia darted forwards and rolled the Westerner onto his back. She began easing his pain.

"How far am I from town?" he slurred.

Jill looked up at the town. "About a kilometre. Why?"

But Chase had passed out.

"We have to get him to a medic," Jill said. "Do Westerners have doctors?"

"I don' need a doctor; I AM a doctor," slurred Chase suddenly, before passing out again.

"Great," Lydia sighed. "Our nearest doctor is passed out in front of us."

Chase suddenly woke up again, groaning like a zombie.

"Chase, you have to rest!" Lydia said, continuing using her magic to alleviate his pain. "Just lie back."

"We were attacked," Chase gasped out. "Everyone. The lights went out and I heard people yelling and there were the sounds of fighting...then something hit me."

"Rest," soothed Lydia, pouring some magic into making sure he obeyed.

Jill frowned and stood up, looking back towards the senate building that was just visible in Rome. "Lydia, stay with Chase."

"What are you going to do?" Lydia demanded.

"I'm going to the senate building. Something is very wrong."

...

 **Nightflame203 owns Lydia**


	7. Chapter 7

Julius wished he had the energy to pace. Pacing seemed to help Octavius relieve some stress but as Julius had a crippled leg, it wouldn't have the same effect.

He was sitting on his bed in his room off Octavius's quarters, worrying about his cousin. He really did trust Petronius as far as he could kick him with his bad leg, and he hated the thought of the senator and Octavius being the only two Romans in the room. He also didn't trust any of the other three leaders. He had no idea what they were like, and so far he had no reason to trust them.

After a while, he realised he couldn't concentrate on anything and he headed out towards the senate building to check on everything. As he crossed the stone square, he saw a woman in a long white dress sitting in the neutral part by the platform. Her head was buried in her hands and she seemed to be crying. Julius sighed. He hated seeing anyone cry so he hobbled over to the square to see what the matter was.

He painfully sat down next to her, holding his injured leg out straight. He saw her glance at him briefly before going back to crying. Julius tried to think of some way of opening a conversation without referencing the fact that she was crying. "Greek and Roman architecture really aren't that different."

The woman gave Julius a withering look but the Tribune pressed: "I mean, we have similar styles of buildings and amenities. Right? It's not just me, is it?"

The woman wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Leave me alone."

"It's against my code of honour to leave a woman when she's crying."

To Julius's surprise, the woman straight-up glared at him. "Are you trying to make me hate you?"

"What did I say?"

"You're being very unfair towards women." She looked away. "If there was a man crying, would you comfort him?"

"Yes," Julius replied, honestly and without hesitation. "Can I at least know your name?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. I'm Ambrosia."

"I'm Julius. I'm a Tribune."

"What's that?"

Julius frowned at her. He thought everyone knew that. "It's a position in the army."

Ambrosia gave him an unimpressed look. "Is it a high position?"

Julius felt shocked that she had had to ask. "Of course it is! I'm above a centurion."

"But you're crippled," noted Ambrosia. "Surely that means you can't fight or do anything useful?"

Julius felt a sharp sting in his chest at her words. Scowling, he looked away. "Just because I'm not one of those expendable, replaceable, foolish instruments whose only purpose in life is to fight and to follow orders blindly and without even reasonable question, doesn't mean I can't be useful!" he snapped, his voice becoming louder towards the end of his sentence.

Ambrosia clapped her hand over her mouth as Julius grabbed his cane angrily and stood up. "Please don't go! My mentor says I have trouble being tactful at the best of times, and I'm not feeling my emotional best right now. I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking. Please don't go. I-I do appreciate the company."

Julius heaved a breath and sat slowly back down. "I tend to speak without thinking too," he said. "Gets me into trouble sometimes. But because the general is my cousin, I get away with talking back to him. Mostly I like it but sometimes I wish he treated me like anyone else. If I hadn't become crippled, I'm sure I'd have become a soldier and he'd treat me just as he treats the other soldiers. Do you know what nepotism is?"

"Favouring friends or relatives," Ambrosia replied almost immediately.

"Yeah, that. Lots of people think I only got my position because General Octavius is my cousin but it's not true. I happen to have a lot of skills that don't require two working legs."

"I'm sure," giggled Ambrosia.

Julius paused. "…I didn't really mean what I said about legionaries."

Ambrosia gave him a sympathetic smile. "I thought you didn't."

"I just get bitter because when I was a child, all I wanted to do was become a legionary but that was taken away from me when this happened." He smacked his leg with his cane. "I actually have the utmost respect for legionaries. After all, they're the ones who rush into battle on the orders of one person, even if those orders are not very good. They have to be very brave."

"I would imagine so," said Ambrosia quietly.

Julius sighed. "I only insult legionaries around this one I hate: Cassius."

"Why do you hate him?"

Julius was about to reply when two women came running into the square. One of them was a Merlinian—the sorcerer named Jill—and the other was a red-haired Westerner. Both of them seemed out of breath and rather urgent.

"Have you seen anything odd?" demanded Jill.

Julius, a little grumpy about being outnumbered gender-wise, replied, "Apart from her hat?"

The Westerner realised that Julius was talking about her Stetson, so she angrily grabbed Julius's collar and lifted him off the ground. "Leg!" yelped Julius shrilly.

"Mah hat ain't odd," the Westerner snarled. "Ya insult me or mah wardrobe again and I'll make sure the next thing ya eat is made o' wood. Understand?"

Julius gulped. Men who threatened him were no problem, even ones who were able and willing to beat him up. A woman who was able to lift him off the ground and threaten him? That made him nervous. "I-I understand." His voice came out high-pitched because of the pain in his leg. The next words he spoke came out choked. "Put down…leg…hurting…crippled…"

"Melody, put him down," said Jill busily.

Melody scowled and dropped Julius, who quickly massaged his injured leg. "You sounded like a goat," remarked Ambrosia, regarding him amusedly.

"Thank you so much." Julius glared at her. "And also thank you for stepping in to help. You would have saved my dignity from that beating it received."

"Have you seen anyone come out of that building?" Jill interrupted impatiently. "Or go in?"

"I…I haven't been paying attention," Ambrosia said sheepishly.

"By which she means she had her head in her hands, crying," Julius supplied helpfully to Jill and Melody.

Now it was Ambrosia's turn to glare at Julius, who said, "payback."

"What about ya?" Melody demanded.

"I've only been here five minutes," Julius said defensively, holding his hands up in surrender. "Why are you asking?"

"And who are you?" Ambrosia demanded.

"I'm Jill and this is Melody. We're trying to-"

Suddenly, a male scream of pain sounded from the senate building.


	8. Chapter 8

The scream didn't sound like Octavius to Julius but he still got to his feet as quickly as he could and hobbled across the plaza towards the senate building. He reached the building before the others and went inside.

The first thing he saw was his cousin lying on the ground, blood soaking his tunic. Julius cursed as he threw himself painfully down by Octavius's side, cursing his cousin for not wearing his armour.

"Octavius, can you hear me?" He could not keep the panic out of his voice. "Octavius!"

He heard movement behind him but he only focused on getting his cousin conscious.

Meanwhile, Jill found two other people: Socrates and King Alexander. Neither had visible injuries but they were both unconscious. As she checked them over, Ambrosia caught sight of three more people in the corner of the room: Balthazar, Jedediah, and Petronius. All of them were also unconscious but the latter had a visible wound: a dangerously big cut on his forehead.

"Jill!" bleated Ambrosia in terror. "Jill!"

The Merlinian came running over and found the three of them. "We need a medic here quickly," she said, bending down beside Petronius. "Can you find someone?"

"Get Athena," called Julius from the entrance. "She's a skilled medic."

"And I can get Hippocrates," Ambrosia added. She turned and began to run, before skidding to a halt after Jill suddenly gasped. "What?" Ambrosia asked fearfully.

"There's someone missing," Jill said in fear. "King Arthur. I can't find him here."

Melody suddenly appeared and sprinted over to Jed's limp body. She examined him quickly and exclaimed, "When I find out who did this to Jed, I'm gonna-!"

"Temper," said a cool voice from the corner.

Everyone turned, even Julius, and saw a figure holding a sword in the corner.

"My king!" Jill gasped. "Wh-what are you…is everything okay?"

Arthur held up his sword, allowing everyone to see the blood dripping off it. An angry noise came from Julius. Jill turned in time to see the Tribune charging towards Arthur. "Don't!" Jill cried, sending a wave of magic towards Julius, but it missed, and Julius reached Arthur. He swung his cane fiercely but Arthur blocked it lazily and knocked Julius aside.

Without touching him.

Julius angrily got up, though his leg was clearly giving him trouble. "You'll pay for what you did to Octavius!"

"Stop!" Jill yelled. "You'll only make it worse!"

But Melody had also jumped to her feet. "He hurt our loved ones!" she snapped. "We can' let 'im get away with it!"

Arthur waved his hand and Melody fell backwards as if she was shoved. Then he waved his hand a second time and unbearable pain flew through Julius's leg, making him collapse. He screamed as the pain intensified. He felt like a dozen angry horses were continuously trampling his leg, not giving any mercy.

"My king, please stop!" begged Jill. "Why are you doing this?"

"And how?" Ambrosia added, fearfully hiding behind a chair. "He's not a sorcerer, is he?"

Jill shook her head. She had recognised that Arthur was somehow doing magic but right now she was concentrating on stopping him. With a heavy heart, she summoned a plasma bolt and threw it at Arthur, who stopped his assault on Julius to dodge it.

"Whoever you are, leave my king alone!" Jill yelled angrily.

"I am King Arthur," said Arthur, and this made Jill very fearful that he was right.

Then a wooden object hit the side of Arthur's head and knocked him backwards. Ambrosia turned to Julius and saw that the Tribune had thrown his cane at Arthur. She shook her head in wonder at the man's bravery and/or stupidity.

Melody took advantage of the distraction and punched Arthur in the jaw.

"Wait!" Jill cried. "He's not-he's being forced to do this!"

But Melody ignored her. She and Arthur had a furious fight that lasted about ten seconds before Arthur used magic to push Melody across the room, hitting her head on one of the pillars and dazing her. Ambrosia rushed over to check on her while Jill confronted Arthur.

"My king, stop!"

Arthur then waved his hand for the third time, and the bodies of Socrates, Alexander, and Petronius disappeared. Ambrosia screamed.

Arthur glared at Melody, who was lying protectively over Jed's limp body. "Move or you will be moved."

"No way!" yelled Melody. "Ya ain't gonna hurt mah boyfriend anymore!"

"Then I shall have to compensate."

With that, Arthur made the body of Balthazar disappear too. "No!" yelled Jill. "Balthazar!"

Arthur raised his palm towards Jill and fired a plasma bolt at her, which she dived to avoid. Then Arthur himself disappeared, leaving only his bloodied sword behind.

Ambrosia turned to Julius as she crouched over Melody's unconscious body. "Did you really throw your cane at a king with a sword?"

Julius ignored her. He crawled across the room to his cousin's body, desperately making sure Octavius was still alive.

"Come on…" he muttered desperately, getting his hands soaked in blood in the process. "Please be okay, please…you have to be okay…"

Jill watched him sadly from the other side of the room.

"P-please…"


	9. Chapter 9

Jill approached Julius nervously as the Tribune worked to bring his cousin back to consciousness. "Is there anything I can do?"

Julius suddenly drew Octavius's sword and pointed it threateningly towards Jill, who backed up with her hands raised in surrender. "You can stay away from us," Julius snarled.

"It wasn't her fault, Julius," Ambrosia said from the corner.

"No, you're right." Julius was trying to keep the majority of his anger and worry out of his voice but the more time that passed without him succeeding in rousing Octavius, the less he was able to do so. "It's her king's. He was the one who stabbed Octavius."

"Julius-."

"Why are you defending them?" demanded Julius of Ambrosia. "He took both your leader AND your deputy, and Jill's acting like nothing happened!"

"No I'm not!" Jill snapped. "In case you didn't notice, he took Balthazar too."

"Oh wow!" snapped Julius sarcastically. "Because that's completely on par with having your best friend stabbed!"

Jill flinched. Ambrosia strode forwards and placed her hand on Julius's shoulder. "It wasn't her fault."

"I know. But she's the only Merlinian in the room so I'm taking my anger out on her."

Julius suddenly drew his arm back and angrily threw the sword at Jill, but the throw fell very short and Jill didn't even have to move to avoid it. Despite this, she shied further away from Julius.

"Calm down!" Ambrosia placed her other hand on his other shoulder. "Calm down, Julius."

"Not until I find out that my cousin is going to live!"

At that moment, three Romans came running into the room: Athena, Rufus, and Cassius. Athena gasped when she saw Octavius and dropped to her knees beside him. Julius stared numbly downwards, until he felt someone put their hands under his arms and gently lift him to his feet. He automatically tried to place weight on his right foot, causing him to pitch sideways. He stumbled into a pillar and held onto it for support, waving away Rufus as the legionary tried to help him again.

"We must take him to the infirmary," Athena said urgently, beckoning for help. "Rufus, Cassius, I need you to lift him."

Everyone else watched as the two legionaries lifted Octavius and followed Athena out of the building. Julius leant on the pillar and closed his eyes. Ambrosia fetched the tribune's cane and gave it back to him. Julius said nothing else as Ambrosia left the building.

Jill felt a pain in her heart as if she really had been the one to stab Octavius and attack the others. She knew it was not her fault—nor, she hoped, was it Arthur's—but she couldn't help feeling the overbearing guilt in her heart.

Exiting the building miserably, Jill wiped her eyes with her hand, determined not to cry. Then she looked up and saw the person she had been looking for. Standing at the bottom of the steps to the senate building was a knight dressed in his informal armour: metal vest over grey long-sleeved shirt, metal trousers, and heavy metal boots. His blonde hair was neatly trimmed, and his green eyes held both pleasure at seeing Jill again and sadness at having just been told what had occurred.

As Jill gazed steadily at him, he slowly opened his arms wide, inviting Jill into his embrace. Jill took a choked breath in and, her face creasing up as if she were about to cry, she ran the rest of the way down the stairs and hugged him tightly. Resting her head on his chest, she surrendered all the emotions she had been supressing for the last fifteen minutes and allowed herself to cry. Galahad simply held her tight and stroked her hair with his right hand, a gesture he knew she found comforting.

"Wh-who tol-told you?" sniffled Jill.

"The Greek woman who came past," replied Galahad softly. "I know that must have been hard to watch."

Jill squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. "He-he looked like King Arthur but he-he also…d-didn't. It was scary. The way he was talking and acting…he almost killed a Roman man in there!"

"I know." Galahad continued stroking her hair. "We'll find out the truth, don't you worry."

"Now everyone's going to hate us," Jill said miserably. "The Greeks have lost both of their representatives, the Westerners' representatives are both injured, and the Romans' general is in a critical condition. We've lost Balthazar too, but the others won't care. Melody and Julius are going to testify that King Arthur committed the acts of his own free will. Ambrosia may stand up for us, but she won't be taken seriously. Since their representatives were left alone, the Westerners are going to be labelled as our allies and have war declared on them too. Best case scenario: they join forces with us against the Greeks and Romans and we battle to a standstill. Worst case scenario: the Westerners hate us as well and they all destroy us."

Galahad placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back so that his concerned face could meet her miserable one. "That is quite a prediction. What makes you say what you did about the Westerners?"

"Think about it," Jill said. "The Greeks and Romans were hit hardest by this. Three of the four of their representatives were taken and the other is almost dead. The Westerners were pretty much left alone. I know they're both injured but it's not life threatening. At least, I don't think so."

She paused for breath. Galahad gazed steadily at her for a moment, before placing both his hands tenderly against Jill's cheeks, holding her head gently. "I love you," he said. "I do not say it enough but I truly love you."

Jill smiled weakly. "I love you too."

"We can get through this. I know we will. And we'll get through it together. I will not let you suffer alone, okay?"

Jill gave a grateful smile and the two embraced again.

On the other side of the plaza, Ambrosia paused as she watched the medics work on Octavius. She was not allowed in, that much was clear. Even Rufus and Cassius were allowed, and neither of them were medics. Ambrosia suspected it was because she was not Roman: she was Greek. Relationships between all four civilisations were sure to become tenser and tenser as the news of what had happened spread.

All of a sudden, Ambrosia's body sagged, and she felt inexplicably exhausted. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. She staggered backwards until she hit the platform in the plaza, which she leant on for support. Her body was horribly cold from head to toe, and she could feel her movements getting stiffer. For a few terrifying moments, she thought her illness had finally caught up with her. Then she realised it was affecting her entire body, not just her chest and windpipe.

Just a minute or so after it had begun, Ambrosia was a statue.


	10. Chapter 10

Chase gave a gasp as his limbs unfroze and breath returned to his lungs. Unsteady on his legs, he stumbled sideways and fell against something hard, which he used to prop himself up. He felt the cut on his head, which had been bandaged. He felt no pain from it. Frowning, Chase unwound the bandage and felt his forehead. There was no blood. There wasn't even a cut. It had healed completely.

Chase stood up straight and looked round, trying to remember what had happened. He had escaped the senate building…and then what? He'd obviously made it into the West, since he was now by the abandoned medical supplies cabin about a kilometre away from the town. Nobody else was in sight.

He wondered what had happened to him. After the whole senate debacle, he meant. He hadn't been able to move his limbs or his head or anything. He had felt like he was becoming a statue.

But now he seemed to be fine.

As he began to walk towards town, he caught sight of his closest friend running across the dust from the direction of the plaza. "Caleb!" called Chase. "Hey!"

Caleb skidded to a halt and saw Chase. "I can't talk," he panted as Chase ambled over to him. "Wait…what are you doing here?"

Chase frowned. "Ya gonna have ta be more specific."

"Why aren't you in town?" Caleb asked, a worried frown on his face. "Jed's been injured, why aren't you helping him?"

Chase stared at his friend in dismay. He couldn't believe he hadn't remembered that Jed had also been in the senate building during the attack. "Where is he?" Chase demanded.

Caleb pointed towards town. "He's in his and Melody's room up there. I'll come with you."

Caleb resumed running, and Chase fell behind him. Chase was cursing himself; as a doctor, he should have been thinking of his patients first and himself second. He hadn't even considered that Jed could have been hurt. Instead, he had run away like a coward and left Jed and the other leaders at the mercy of a psycho with a sword and magic powers.

When they reached town, Caleb took Chase to the small cabin. As they approached, they saw Melody and Nikki standing in the entrance. Chase automatically sidled to stand behind Caleb; both women looked like they were about to hit him.

"Where've ya been?" demanded Melody. "Mah boyfriend is hurt! Get in there and help him!"

Chase, however, did not move. He stared with a frown at Melody, who snapped, "Ya got a problem?"

"Did ya have a wound on yer head?" Chase asked. "There's dried blood on yer forehead but no sign o' a wound."

"Really?" Melody put her hand to her head and rubbed off the dried blood. "Huh…I _did_ have a cut there. Wonder why an' how it's gone?"

"The same happened wit' me when I-," Chase began.

"Less talky, more helpy," interrupted Nikki, jerking her thumb towards the inside of the cabin.

"Oh. Right." Chase started inside the building. "I need Nikki and Caleb ta check round with the Romans and see if they need help wit' their general."

"Why not me?" demanded Melody. "Ya got a problem wit' me?"

"No, I just assumed ya would rather be here with yer boyfriend," said Chase pointedly, causing Melody to scowl.

"Fine."

As Nikki and Caleb departed, Chase led the way into the bedroom. Jedediah was lying on his bed, eyes closed, face pale, forearm across his upper stomach. Chase quickly moved to his leader's side and examined the wound on Jed's head.

"Well?" demanded Melody, her slightly shaky voice being the only thing that betrayed her worry.

"He has a concussion," Chase diagnosed. "Perhaps brain damage."

Melody's facial expression and body language both immediately changed. "Will he live?"

"There's not much I can do," admitted Chase. "I can give him some medicine ta ease his pain a bit but other than that, it's up ta him ta survive."

"Ya hear that?" Melody swatted Jed's shoulder. "Ya better decide ta live, ya hear me?"

"I hear ya," muttered a woozy voice.

Chase immediately ran round to the other side of the bed and began a new examination as Jed's eyes slowly opened.

"How ya feeling?" Melody asked. "More ta the point, are ya gonna leave me or are ya gonna survive?"

Jed frowned. "I-I'm not sure I understand the question. I…I guess I wanna survive."

"Right answer," said Melody fiercely.

"Ya might wanna change up yer tone and language a bit," Chase said from the other side of the room, where he was mixing medication. "Otherwise he's gonna think ya don't wan' him ta live."

"O' course he knows I wan' him ta live," snapped Melody. "Right?" she demanded of Jed.

The sheriff raised his eyebrows and weakly held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't think ya wanted me ta die."

"I don'."

Someone knocked on the door. "Chase?" came a familiar, differently-accented voice. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," said Chase in bewilderment, as the young lady came into the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Who's this?" demanded Melody. "And why's she dressed funny?"

"My name is Ambrosia." The Greek woman gave a bow. "And I came to tell you that-."

"How'd she know yer name?" Melody demanded of Chase, who scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I-I've kinda met 'er before."

"Chase," Ambrosia tried again. "There are two Romans outside who wish to speak with Jedediah."

"Romans?" Jed asked. "Who?"

Chase's nurse-like nature took over before Ambrosia could reply. "Yer not receiving visitors in yer state," he said firmly. "Ya need lots o' rest to recover from such a bad head injury. I thought ya were gonna die at firs'."

"I feel better," said Jed, sitting up in bed.

For once, Melody was on Chase's side. "We don' wan' ya exciting yerself too much," she said, displaying an uncharacteristically kind side. "We'll see what the Roman guys want."

"I feel better," Jed insisted. "I can receive 'em."

Melody scowled, slipping back into her fiery nature. "Fine. But if ya die of shock, I'm gonna find ya in the underworld and kill ya again."

Jed's lips twitched but Chase knew he dared not smile in front of Melody when she was in this mood. "Understood."

Jed looked up at Chase for confirmation. "Sure," Chase said. "But I'll need to be presen' at all times."

Ambrosia nodded and disappeared back outside.

"I'm gonna need ya to wait outside," Chase told Melody, who glared back at him.

"I'm stayin' with mah boyfriend."

"It's doctor's orders," insisted Chase.

"I defy doctor's orders."

"Fine. When ya inevitably get into another fight and hurt yerself, I won' be as sympathetic as I am with yer boyfriend."

Melody glared. "Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise," retorted Chase.

The two held their angry gazes for a while, before Melody finally looked away. "Fine." She stormed outside.

Jed looked up at Chase. "Not many people can match her fire," he said. "Nice job."

"When yer a doctor dealing with stubborn patients who insist they don' need help when they clearly do, ya learn stubbornness very quickly," Chase grinned. "Now let's see what those Romans want."

...

 **Caleb belongs to Nightflame203**


	11. Chapter 11

"Hello.

"Oh no you don't. My magic will always be faster than your weapon. And don't try running away. I can strike you down blindfolded. Anyway. My name is Horvath and I am a sorcerer.

"What do I want? Good question. I'm not one to beat about the bush so I'll get right to it: I wish to raise a centuries-old sorceress to kill everybody. Yes, even you. But if you help me, you will be spared. Better yet, you will get revenge on the people you hate.

"Listening now, are we? I can have all your enemies killed, and I can tell you have a lot of them. I see bitterness in your heart. More than most. But there is someone you love, yes? You wish for me to spare them too? First I need you to help me.

"I need only one thing to raise Morgana: the sword Excalibur. King Arthur entrusted it to one of his Knights. Unfortunately, it looks like every single other sword he gave his Knights. Fortunately, there is one simple way to tell: Excalibur floats on water while other swords sink. However, if it is attached to something that sinks-like a person-then it will also sink. Your task is to retrieve the sword-the real Excalibur-and bring it to me. I would do it myself but alas, my face is known. I would never be able to get close enough to steal the sword. You, however, are perfect. If you do this, you and whomever you wish will be spared when Morgana takes over.

"You don't think that is much of an incentive? Surely it would be better to be spared than to die an agonising death? That's better. Now, tell me the name of the person you wish to spare.

"Interesting. I wouldn't have thought that was your type. Anyway, thank you for your cooperation.

"Tsk. I am not worried about the sorcerers. You see, only two very special people can defeat Morgana. There's a prophecy: only the child of a great sorcerer and one with royal blood can defeat her. With Merlin nowhere to be seen and Arthur out of commission, I am confident this prophecy will not come to pass.

"But now I must have your assurance that you will not tell anyone about our little agreement or my plan. No, I'm afraid promising isn't good enough. How about I give you a taste of the agony that will be inflicted on you if you tell anybody?

"Ah, I told you running wouldn't do any good. INCENDIUS!

"Sigh. I've never understood why you mortals scream when you're in pain. Nobody's going to hear you and it's not going to alleviate the pain at all. Anyway, that should be enough. I need you in enough of a shape to steal the sword. But double-cross me, and I will have you begging for death. Do I make myself clear? Good. Now get out there and get me the sword."


	12. Chapter 12

As Chase helped Jed sit up properly on the bed, two Romans came into the room, one supporting the other. To Chase's utter surprise, the one being supported was General Octavius, who was wearing just a tunic and sandals. Clearly there was a bandage underneath them, since he could not have recovered from such a wound in such a short space of time.

Deciding that the woman must be the medic, Chase frowned at her. "Is it the bes' idea for 'im ta be up an' about like this?"

"He insisted," the medic said, though her frown and tone of voice made clear her disapproval.

"I am sorry, Athena," Octavius said gently to the medic. "But I had to come." He turned to look at Jed. "How are you feeling?"

"Me? Ya were the one who got stabbed." Jed raised an eyebrow amusedly. "I'm fine. Yerself?"

"Healing," Octavius said, though he happened to shift his body, causing him to take a sharp breath in and then cough a few times.

"How is it yer up an' about?" asked Chase, keenly interested in the answer. "Yer were bleedin' out not too long ago."

Athena gave a mild glare in his direction but she answered for Octavius: "The blade missed the vitals and didn't actually go in too deep. It caused some blood loss but it looked much worse than it was." Octavius coughed again, and Athena added disapprovingly, "Octavius, you must go back to Rome and rest. Julius has been very worried about you."

"I can manage," insisted Octavius.

Jed shot an amused glance at Chase, who said, "See what I mean about patients' stubbornness?"

Jed then looked back at Octavius and said, "Are th' Merlinians and Greeks gettin' such a visit too?"

"No," admitted Octavius. "There was actually a matter I wished to talk to you about."

Chase attempted to make himself busy and was definitely not deliberately listening into this potentially very interesting conversation. Athena seemed to be doing the same thing, hovering awkwardly and looking at the ceiling.

"What is it?" Jed asked.

Octavius paused. "It is about the attack."

Jed leant back and closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

"Does this distress you?" Octavius inquired.

"I've kinda been tryin' ta block it outta mah memory," Jed admitted. "But if there's somethin' ya need ta talk ta me about concernin' it, I'll try mah best ta help."

"Thank you." Octavius moved further into the room, helped by Athena, who seemed to be getting more and more disapproving by the minute. "The two of us were the last two of the people in that room conscious."

"Excludin' Chase, who ran off just after everyone else was hit," Jed said with an amused glance at his doctor, who gave him a stung look back. Jed seemed to recognise that that fact was deeply embarrassing and distressing to Chase, and he immediately said, "I'm sorry. Please continue, Octavius."

"As the two people conscious longest during the attack, I wish to consolidate our knowledge and possible determine a motive and a means."

"I think one o' those things is pretty clear," Jed said pointedly. "The means. Arthur's a sorcerer."

"Jill said he isn'," Chase said immediately.

"Well, I am certainly no expert on such matters, but it seems that there was no way Arthur could have used magic if he did not already have it," Octavius said, wincing slightly towards the end of his sentence. "If we are talking about controlling a mind, as the woman Jill seems to think, then it is not possible for him not to be. It is impossible for one, even if acting under mind control, to access magic one does not have."

"Possession, then?" Chase suggested. "If he was possessed by a sorcerer-"

"It would be the same," Octavius interrupted, shaking his head. "One cannot use magic one does not have."

"It seems to me," said Athena quietly. "That we should not rule out the most obvious possibility: that King Arthur was acting under his own influence."

A pause followed this. What Chase deduced from this was that this opinion was not Athena's alone; she had simply spoken aloud what the others were thinking.

"I am sorry," Athena said, bowing her head. "I did not mean to speak out of place."

"You did not speak out of place," Octavius assured her. "You were simply giving your opinion. That is allowed."

"Thank you."

"We were all thinkin' it, I'm sure," Jed said, shifting his body a little, causing him to groan in pain.

Chase and Athena exchanged glances. Since both of them were doctors, they knew they were both hoping to bring the meeting to a close so that they could allow their patients to rest and recover.

"Is there anythin' else ya two can deduce?" Chase asked. "So we can get ya ta rest?"

Octavius and Jed exchanged a glance. "Maybe the fact that the two o' us weren' immediately hit, like the others were, is significan'," Jed said.

"That is true," said Octavius thoughtfully. "The two of us were still standing when the others were hit."

"What happened?" asked Ambrosia's voice from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look at her, making her cringe. "S-sorry. I just…I wanted to know what exactly happened."

"Maybe that woul' be useful," Chase said.

"There is not much to tell," Octavius admitted. "It suddenly became dark and I heard grunts of men as they were attacked."

"When the lights came back, Chase was gone and th' others were out," Jed added. "I saw Arthur holdin' a sword. Before I knew what 'ad 'appened, he'd stabbed Ockie. Can I call ya Ockie?"

Octavius looked taken aback. "Alright."

"Before I coul' react ta that, I completely blacked out. Only when I woke did I realise tha' the guy musta hit me."

"Pretty hard," commented Chase. "Ya had a concussion and ya coulda had brain damage. Speakin' o' which, I'm gonna hafta ask ya two ta leave," he added, addressing the two Romans. "Jed needs rest, and I'd imagine ya do too."

"Yes," agreed Athena, taking Octavius's arm. "Come."

Octavius nodded and stood up straighter, intending to walk out. However, the movement must have stretched his wound because he collapsed forwards with a sharp exclamation of pain. Chase moved but Athena was quicker; she helped Octavius to his feet and slung his arm over her shoulder. "We must hurry you to Rome," she said. "You need more treatment and rest to recover."

"Wait," Jed called as the two turned towards the exit. "Can…can I ask ya a favour?"

"Sure," said Octavius, attempting a smile. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Back before all o'… _this_ happened, we had a bitta trouble wi' a race o' people called the Mayans. They lived far up on our territory and I'm worried they might be here. Would ya be able to send a patrol or somethin' to check?"

"I will arrange it," Octavius promised.

"Thanks."

As they left, Chase helped Jed lie down. "And ya need rest too. Okay?"

"Yes Doctor Chase," grinned Jed, settling down.

As he closed his eyes, Chase quietly left the room. He wondered why Jed had told Octavius about the Mayans. They hadn't attacked or anything since everyone appeared in…whatever this place was.

 _Still,_ he thought darkly to himself. _Doesn't mean they won't._


	13. Chapter 13

Julius carried his saddle, with a lot of difficulty, over to a free horse and slid it on, again with a lot of difficulty. Then he slid his cane into the special holder on the saddle for it.

"What are you doing?" scoffed Cassius, who was already sitting on his horse.

"Putting this horse on my saddle," Julius replied, fastening the saddle. "Why, what are YOU doing?"

He expected Cassius to begin another argument or at the very least react to what he said, but Cassius simply leant forwards in his saddle, rested his arms on the neck of his horse, and lay his head on his arms. Julius frowned. After making sure his own saddle was secure, he limped across to Cassius's horse. "What's the matter with you?" he asked, patting Cassius's foot.

What he didn't expect was Cassius's reaction. The legionary jolted so hard that he almost fell off his horse. Julius folded his arms. "Cassius, you better tell me what the matter is with you."

"It's none of your business," snapped Cassius, righting himself in the saddle. "Since when do you concern yourself with the matters of lowly legionaries?"

"Cassius, you know better than to talk back to the tribune," said Rufus calmly from the neighbouring horse. "Besides, our purpose today is not to argue."

"Rufus is right," Octavius said, coming out of his quarters with his saddle over his shoulder. "We are checking the West for Mayans."

"How will we know who the Mayans are?" asked Cassius.

"If they don't look like Westerners, they're probably Mayans," Julius sniped.

Cassius scowled back, but Octavius frowned at Julius. "I do not remember inviting you," the general said to his cousin.

"I invited myself," Julius said with an obnoxious smile up at Cassius. "Simply so I could see this ray of sunshine's annoyed face when I showed up."

"Is that the only reason?" Octavius asked, folding his arms and raising his eyebrow.

"No," admitted Julius. "I think you'll need a strategist out there. What if these Mayans are hostile?"

"You won't be much help, then," muttered Cassius.

Julius pointed at Cassius while still looking at Octavius. "Does this guy have to come?"

"Yes," Octavius said sternly. "He has more of a reason to be here at the moment than you do."

Julius raised both his eyebrows. "Ouch. But what about you? Does Athena know you're doing this?"

Octavius scowled and rubbed his armour in the spot where his wound was.

"I'll take that as a no," Julius said pointedly. "You had a pretty bad stab wound."

"Athena has used her strongest bandage," Octavius said. "She did everything she could for my wound."

"What if you pass out or something?" Julius pressed.

"I will be fine. I made a promise to Jedediah," Octavius said.

Julius rolled his eyes. "So a promise you made to a total stranger is more important than the word of your medic and fiancée?"

Rufus and Cassius exchanged a confused and shocked look. Julius leant back and folded his arms, a triumphant look on his face. Octavius stared at Julius. "H-how did you know about our engagement?"

"So it's true?" Rufus blurted out.

"It is true," Octavius sighed. "Athena and I are engaged."

"Congratulations!" Rufus said warmly. He seemed very happy for the couple. Julius suspected it was because he had found out that Rufus had been trying for months to get the two together, having been something of a confidant to both parties and knowing about their feelings for the other.

"How did you find out?" Octavius asked Julius. "Athena and I told no-one."

Julius paused. "I definitely did not overhear your proposal when I came back from that tribune meeting early and decided to listen at the door instead of going away and giving you two some privacy because that's the kind of nosy person I am."

Octavius sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Typical."

Julius bowed. "Thank you."

"Let us get this over with." Octavius put the saddle on his horse, tightened the straps, and mounted.

Julius put his hand up like a schoolboy. "Um…I may have to, uh…"

"What is it, Julius?" asked Octavius resignedly.

"I might have to…ride side-saddle," Julius admitted, dropping his head to avoid the mocking look he felt sure would come from Cassius. "It's just…with my leg."

"Just do it," Octavius sighed.

Julius paused again. "I also may need a leg up."

"Julius!" snapped Octavius in frustration.

"It's not my fault," Julius said in his defence. "It's completely my leg's fault."

"I suppose you're going to ask me to help you up?" Octavius snapped.

Julius jerked his thumb at Cassius. "That's what he's for, isn't it?"

Rufus scowled and cleared his throat. "You know, sir, we're the ones who keep the enemy from cutting off your arse while you sit all cosy in the camp."

"Rufus!" Octavius seemed angry but Julius grinned.

"A very good point and eloquently made," he chuckled.

Julius made a mental note to not insult legionaries anymore if Rufus was within hearing. It wasn't that he didn't like their little verbal sparring matches. It was just that he meant what he had said to Rufus: he really did hold Rufus in higher esteem than most other legionaries, simply because he was loyal, respectful, AND obedient.

"We must set off," Octavius said. "Rufus, help Julius into his saddle."

As Rufus got down from his saddle, he happened to glance at Cassius, who gave him a smirk. Ignoring it, he gave Julius a leg-up into his saddle. "Thank you," Julius said, giving Rufus a smile.

The legionary simply went back to his horse and remounted. Julius settled into his own saddle. He tried sitting in it normally but that placed strain on his leg, so he swung his other leg over and awkwardly sat side-saddle. When he was comfortable, he looked up and saw that Octavius and Rufus had already set off. Cassius was sat in his saddle, looking at Julius in such a way that he could only convey more amusement if he was actually laughing. "You're actually sitting side-saddle," he said, grinning.

"Astute observation, _brassica_ ," Julius replied airily.

Cassius's smug look vanished and was replaced by both confusion and disbelief. "Did you just call me "cabbage"?"

"Possibly." Julius grinned.

"Well don't," snapped Cassius. "I'm not a cabbage."

Julius just shot Cassius a smirk as he spurred his horse. "Try and keep up, my little _capsicum annuum_ ," he called over his shoulder.

Behind him, he heard Cassius's annoyed voice snap, "I'm not a potato either!"

Julius grinned as his horse picked up speed. He loved annoying Cassius. Sometimes it was all he lived for.

…

 **Once again, Mythicalnightguard owns Rufus and Athena.**


	14. Chapter 14

Julius had never really liked horses since his accident. With a lot of help and support from Octavius, he had only just managed to overcome the crippling fear of horses he had received in even the years after his accident. Even now, he disliked them because it was very uncomfortable having to sit side-saddle and it was a horse's fault that he now had to sit side-saddle all the time, and really just thinking about the whole looped situation made Julius's head hurt.

The other three were ahead on their horses. It wasn't by much but it was enough to make Julius scowl every time he saw Cassius's back.

"Stop!" Octavius commanded after a few minutes of riding.

Julius pulled his horse's reins but he must not have sent the message properly because the animal carried on trotting for a few seconds before Julius had to pull so hard on the reins that he almost fell backwards off his horse. Had the animal not had feelings, he would have kicked it. "Stupid horse," he muttered under his breath.

"We are in the West," Octavius announced.

Before he could continue what he was going to say, Julius piped up, "Sir, I think we're in Rome."

Octavius gave Julius an unmistakable warning look. Julius shut his mouth and sat back in his saddle.

"We are in the West," Octavius said again, shooting a glare at Julius as if daring him to speak again. "Not in Rome. Therefore, we must act especially carefully because if we do not, we could begin a war."

"Not with you being on such friendly terms with the Westerners' leader, we couldn't," Julius said under his breath.

He thought he had been quiet enough, but Octavius still sent a glare in his direction.

"Keep your eyes open and your mouths closed," Octavius finished, shooting yet another glare over at Julius, who deduced that the "mouths shut" bit must have been specifically directed at him.

"Cassius and Rufus, dismount," Octavius ordered, swinging off his own horse. "Julius, stay here and keep watch."

"Why?" Julius inquired. "Is it because I'm crippled and utterly useless on foot?"

Cassius snickered. Octavius shook his head wearily. "If that is what you wish to believe, then yes. Come, men."

Julius watched as Octavius, Cassius, and Rufus headed off away from the town. Julius turned his horse round to face the cluster of buildings, which were about a kilometre away from him.

He took this time to reflect on the situation in the senate building. As much as he disliked Petronius, he hadn't wanted the senator to just disappear like that. He hadn't wanted _any_ of them to just disappear like that. He hoped the leaders were okay. His eyes automatically narrowed at the memory of King Arthur, standing there with magic and the sword glistening with Octavius's blood. He would never forgive Arthur. The Merlinians, perhaps with time. Jill, most likely. But he would never forgive Arthur for hurting his cousin.

All of a sudden, men's yells reached Julius's ears. He spun round on his horse and saw people. They were wearing odd garments that barely covered their bodies, and there were about half a dozen of them. These must be the Mayans. They had small wooden pipes with them, and they were blowing through them. Something was clearly coming out the other end because the other three Romans were racing back towards Julius as fast as they could, the Mayans right behind them.

All of a sudden, there was a loud noise, scaring his horse. Julius fell to the ground as the animal bucked. He realised he was in terrible danger of being trampled under the spooked horse, so, unable to get up, Julius tried to shuffle backwards out of the horse's way, but he froze when an image from his childhood came flashing back: of a horse stampeding towards him and hitting him. Julius stared, paralysed with fear, as the horse's front legs came down hard…

…just a few inches away from his feet.

Julius looked up and saw Octavius and Cassius wrestling with the horse's reigns. Rufus appeared, standing over Julius, trying to calm the horse from the ground. It seemed to be working until the horse bolted, leaving the three Romans in the dust.

Octavius immediately hurried to Julius's side. "Are you alright, Julius?"

The tribune nodded shakily. "I-I'm okay. I just-I just froze."

Rufus and Cassius exchanged a glance. Both could tell the other was thinking about the accident that had claimed Julius's use of his right leg, the accident that neither of them had been there for but had heard many stories about.

Octavius helped Julius to his feet and supported him as the tribune winced with pain after putting weight on his foot. "I'm sorry," Julius muttered. "I-I froze."

"It is okay, Julius." Octavius held his cousin in his arms. "You went through a traumatic experience when you were a child. It will continue to plague you throughout your adulthood. All we can do is help you move past it."

Julius nodded, quite embarrassed. He stole a glance at Cassius, who, mercifully, was not looking smug or triumphant. He actually seemed worried for Julius.

"Alright, if you are feeling well enough, we must move on," Octavius said.

Julius nodded again. Then he awkwardly said, "Um…my cane was on my horse."

Octavius didn't miss a beat. He turned to the two legionaries and said, "Rufus, Cassius, go and catch Julius's horse. If you cannot, try and retrieve his cane."

"Yes sir," both legionaries said, beginning to mount their horses.

"I feel so bad," muttered Julius. "I'm useless."

"Do not say that," Octavius said with a reassuring smile. "You are very useful. It is simply that your usefulness is not in the physical department."

Julius smiled, grateful for the support. Suddenly, he felt both cold and stiff again. He stifled a yelp as he fell out of Octavius's helping arms, as the general clutched his chest.

"It is happening again!" Octavius gasped. "We-we must…Rufus! Cassius!"

But the two had already fallen off their horses, statue-like. Octavius stumbled towards Rufus, who was nearest, but he stopped when he heard Julius's pitiful cry of pain. "Octavius," he choked, lying propped up on his side on one elbow. "I-I can't…I can't m-move…"

Octavius immediately turned and stumbled back towards his scared cousin, dropping his sword on the ground to have both his hands free.

Before the sword hit the ground, both Romans were statues.


	15. Chapter 15

Jill sighed as she got to her feet outside her and Galahad's house. Galahad himself was a few metres away from her, also getting up. This was the second time they had frozen and come back to life. What was happening?

Then the ground began shaking violently, knocking everyone back down. Jill used magic to hover—the closest she could come to flying—so she could avoid continually falling over. She didn't have enough magic to keep Galahad standing too, so she gave him an apologetic look and floated in the general direction of the noise.

However, she soon had to stop dead, as she realised she had come to the edge of what seemed like a cliff. It was a straight drop down to what looked like a brown surface. And in front of her…

Jill's magic suddenly failed, and she fell to the ground. Mouth open, she stared up at the giant man in front of her. His giant eyes were surveying her with an expression that was hard to read.

"H-how are you s-so b-big?" stammered Jill.

She was unsure of whether or not the giant could hear her, so it came as a shock when the giant bent down to her level and said, "I'm not big. You're little."

"No kidding," Jill snapped. "To you it seems like that, but-."

"No, I mean you're littler than everyone else in the world."

Jill stepped back in shock. "What?"

Footsteps met her ears, and she turned her head slightly to see lots of people from all civilisations coming to see what the matter was. She recognised several people, including Genie, Veronica, Julius, Octavius, Chase, Jed, and Ambrosia. Galahad came to stand next to Jill, and the two of them linked hands.

"Everyone, I'm Cecil Fredricks," the giant said. "I'm the night guard at the Museum of Natural History."

"What's a mew-see-um?" asked Jill.

"A place where historical artefacts and wax figures get placed so that people can learn from them," Cecil replied. "Like you."

"Don' be silly," Jed called. "We're alive."

"I hate to tell you this, but I'm afraid you're not," Cecil said. "How many of you remember dying?"

This got everyone to think. Jill certainly remembered dying. So did Julius, Chase, and Ambrosia.

"That-that proves nothing," Jill stammered.

"Okay, how many of you are hungry? Thirsty? Needing the toilet?"

This also made them think. Jill felt her stomach tenderly. Cecil was right: she didn't feel hungry or thirsty at all. It should have been impossible: she'd been alive for at least two days now and had had no food. How was that possible? It wasn't possible. Unless Cecil was actually right…

"You're miniatures," Cecil said. "Part of a diorama that shows off five ancient civilisations."

"Five?" repeated several people at once.

"Merlinians, Greeks, Romans, and Westerners are all we have here," Jill said. "Who's the fifth?"

"The Mayans," said Julius aloud before Cecil could.

The night guard nodded. "That's right."

There was some confusion amongst the people, but before anyone could question Cecil further about the Mayans, Ambrosia spoke up: "Pardon me Mr Fredricks-."

"Call me Cecil."

"Pardon me, Cecil, but if we are indeed just miniatures in a museum, how is it that we are alive?"

Cecil paused. "I'm not the person best suited to answer that question. Hold on, let me go and get someone."

Cecil left, his heavy footsteps shaking the…exhibit? Was their world just an exhibit?

Jill and Galahad exchanged a worried look. "This isn't going to go down well," Galahad muttered.

"I'm more worried about the explanation for why we're alive again," Jill confessed. "I was right: death can't be undone. Not naturally, at least. I don't want to be only alive because of some magic or witchcraft."

"Jill, your whole existence is magic," Galahad said amusedly. "You're a sorcerer."

Jill shot him a scathing look, but the shaking of the exhibit signified the return of Cecil, who had a tanned man with him, dressed like some kind of Ancient Egyptian royalty. "Everyone, this is Ahkmenrah," Cecil announced. "I will let him explain."

The Egyptian gave a smile and held up a beautiful golden tablet with writing over it that nobody could decipher. "This is my tablet. It was made on the day of my birth and imbued with moonlight. It has the power to bring museum exhibits to life."

Muttering broke out amongst some of the miniatures. Jill said, "So how is it that we have magic? We are sorcerers, but if the tablet brings museum exhibits to life as you say, why do we have our magic?"

Ahkmenrah did not miss a beat. "The tablet keeps historical inaccuracies to a very low minimum. Exhibits come to life with all the memories of the historical figure they are based on. Perhaps the tablet sensed that you are supposed to have magic and granted it to you."

"Wait," Julius suddenly called, replaying the penultimate sentence Ahkmenrah had said. "You said "the historical figure they are based on", right?"

"That is correct."

"So that means…" Julius didn't want to say it aloud. "That means we are not the real people? I am not the real Julius? We-we are simply based on the real historical figure?"

Ahkmenrah didn't have to say anything. His sad face said everything he needed to.

Julius felt a stab of nausea. He turned and hobbled away as fast as he could, ignoring Octavius's call of his name.

"It will take some time to fully understand this," Ahkmenrah said sympathetically. "I suggest you spend some time talking about it with each other. It may help you to process the information."

Cecil tapped the pharaoh's shoulder. "We have to check on the rest of the museum now," he said. "It's going to be a busy night."

"Don't you mean day?" asked Galahad, frowning.

"No," Cecil replied shortly. "The exhibits only come to life at night. You've been coming alive at night time. During the day, you're frozen."

"That's what the freezing thing was about!" Ambrosia gasped. "We freeze during the day because we're museum exhibits!"

"Yes," said Ahkmenrah. "But I must tell you something: if ever you find yourselves outside the museum, you must make it back inside before sunrise or you turn to dust."

This abrupt change of topic into a rather depressing subject made an uncomfortable silence descend over the miniatures, broken by Octavius saying, "We understand."

"You can do whatever you wish," Cecil said. "Just make sure that if you leave your exhibit, don't cause any trouble or I will lock you up in your exhibit and you will not be allowed to leave again. Understand?"

Everyone nodded in canon as if being scolded by a teacher at school.

"Listen, I know it may seem depressing to know that you are not real, alive beings, but this life is not so bad," Ahkmenrah said. "You have an entire night, from sunset to sunrise, to enjoy right now." He gave them a smile. "So enjoy it."

…

 **A/N: I know in NATM1 it is stated that Ahkmenrah has not been allowed out of his casket since arriving at the museum, but I felt it would be better if Ahk explained the situation to the miniatures, seeing as he understands the tablet most out of everyone.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Not being hungry is something I hadn't even realised until he mentioned it," Ambrosia said.

"Same," Jill agreed.

A small group of miniatures were sitting together in the neutral place (now named the Plaza), either on or next to the platform. This group consisted of Jill, Galahad, Octavius, Athena, Ambrosia, Chase, Jed, and Melody.

"I do not know how this is even possible," Octavius confessed. "A magical tablet that can bring mew-see-um exhibits to life? And…the fact that somehow _we_ are the museum exhibits…it is not pleasant to think about."

"Is that why Julius got so upset?" Jill asked.

Octavius looked away and didn't answer.

"But apparently we ain't the real deal," Jed contributed. "Apparently. Remember what Ahk said?"

"That what yer callin' him?" Melody scoffed.

"He said that we're based on historical figures," Jed continued as if Melody hadn't spoken. "That means we're not actually the "historical figures" he spoke of."

"That's depressing," commented Chase.

"And that is what Julius is so affected by," Octavius said in answer to Jill's earlier question. "He…he hates feeling useless."

All eyes were on Octavius, who was looking at the floor. "What actually happened to his leg?" Jill asked.

Octavius looked up in surprise. "Do you really wish to know?"

As he looked around at everyone, Octavius realised that they were all nodding. Everyone here wanted to know what had happened to Julius. They all cared that much about him, whether they even knew Julius well or not.

"Very well." Octavius settled himself. "He was about eleven years old at the time. He was playing with some friends in the street when a spooked horse stampeded towards him. He could not get out of the way in time."

Nobody didn't look solemn or sympathetic, or both.

Octavius swallowed and continued, "When he had his accident, he told me he felt useless because he knew he would never be able to become a legionary due to his leg. The rest of our family gave up on him. But I did not. I saw that he had potential to become a great strategist. He already had the talent. I appointed him tribune so that he could still help the army without being a legionary. But even though I have done so much for him, I will never forgive myself or forget that it was my fault the accident occurred."

Octavius suddenly realised he had said too much. He quickly stood up and left the plaza, not wishing to have people questioning him further. Everyone immediately turned to look at Athena. "Do you know what he means?" Jill asked.

Athena shook her head. "I do not know. I have heard the story of what happened to Julius before, but I do not know why Octavius believes he is the one to blame."

"How about you go talk to him?" suggested Ambrosia. "Find out why."

Athena looked uncertain.

"Ya don' hafta tell us afterwards," Chase added. "Jus' make sure he's okay."

Athena smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I will see if I can make him feel better."

With that, she got down off the platform and headed in the direction Octavius had gone in.

"I wish I was hungry," Jill said wistfully, just to break the silence that followed. "Balthazar used to make an amazing vegetable soup. But you had to be very hungry in order to eat it."

She paused after this statement, just to draw out the curiosity of her comrades. "Why?" asked Chase, just to humour her.

"Because when you eat some, you'll want to keep eating and keep eating, and trust me, that's no fun if you feel full after the first bowl."

This appeared to be a meaningless story, but it loosened the tension in the atmosphere quite a bit. Jed laughed aloud, causing Melody to punch him good-humorously on the shoulder. At the same time, Chase and Ambrosia snuggled into each other, which Jill found cute; and Galahad rested his head on Jill's shoulder.

In Rome, Athena caught up to Octavius in the latter's quarters. She watched as Octavius sat down on his bed and simply stared at the ground, fingers anxiously interlocked.

"What is the matter with you?" she asked. "Are you feeling well?"

"I am," Octavius replied wearily. "Talking about Julius's accident stirred up some unpleasant memories, is all."

"Are you sure?" Athena delicately sat down on the bed next to her fiancé. "Why did you say that his accident was your fault?"

"Because it was," sighed Octavius. "I…" He paused.

Athena waited to see if her fiancé wished to talk. She placed both hands on his shoulders and began to gently massage them in an effort to help the general relax. It must have worked, because Octavius continued talking: "On the day it happened, I had just been out for a ride with my men. We were checking our defences. I was leading my horse to put it back in the stables, when I let go of its reins to open the stable gate, against even my own better judgement. Then there was a loud noise. Some men had accidentally fired the onager they were supposed to be transporting. Since I had no hold on my horse, it became spooked by the loud noise and bolted. By the time I caught up with it, I saw with horror that it had already knocked my cousin down."

Athena gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth in shock. Octavius sadly gazed down at the ground. "That is part of the reason I tried so hard to help him afterwards," he said. "I felt even worse when even his own parents abandoned him. It was entirely my fault that he did not have a future as a legionary. If I had kept a better eye on my horse, it would never have hit Julius. It is all my fault."

Athena gazed steadily at Octavius until her fiancée turned to look at her. "Does Julius know this?" she asked.

Octavius shook his head. "I have never told him. But…I cannot carry on like this any longer, Athena. Do I tell him? _How_ do I tell him?"

"He is your cousin," Athena said soothingly, resting her head on Octavius's shoulder. "Just tell him and he will understand."

"But I do not want him to hate me." Octavius exhaled deeply. "If I tell him that I am responsible for his life of pain, will he not hate me?"

"He will not," Athena reassured him. "You are cousins, and he loves you. You are the only family he has left. He will understand."

"I hope so," Octavius sighed, resting his head on her head. "I love you, Athena."

"I love you too, Octavius."

It was in this position that, a short time later, they froze.


	17. Chapter 17

"I think I'm beginning to get used to this," Galahad said as his limbs unfroze.

Jill, who had frozen right next to him, smiled at him. "So am I. I guess we're going to have to get used to it. It's going to happen every day for the rest of our existence."

"That's not depressing at all," Galahad commented.

Jill smirked back at him. "So. We're alone."

Galahad looked around. "I guess we are."

They were sitting alone in the plaza. Neither of them had any idea where the others had gone, but it didn't matter to them.

Galahad reached out and took Jill's hand. "Since we're alone and we have the whole night ahead of us, want to do something fun?"

Jill grinned. "I thought you'd never ask. What do you want to do?"

"Well, I've done some investigating, and there's a "saloon" in the West that does drinks and music. Would you like to try there?"

Jill beamed. "Absolutely."

They got off the platform and, still holding hands, headed towards the West. On their way, they caught sight of Lydia sitting on the grass, making random blades of grass levitate. "Everything okay?" Jill called.

"Just a bit annoyed," Lydia replied lazily. "Still. I'm still annoyed that you made me miss the battle two nights ago."

Jill felt her cheeks burn. "Look, I'm sorry. If I had known there would be a battle, I wouldn't have made you stay."

"It's fine." Lydia lay back. "I'm just worried about Balthazar. I wish I could have been there to help him."

Remembering that Balthazar was Lydia's mentor too, Jill softened.

"Also, I'm still dealing with the fact that apparently I'm not real," Lydia sighed, dropping the levitation on the grass. "It's a bit hard to wrap your head around quickly."

"You don't have to," Jill said. "We have years to come to grips with it."

"Our world isn't even real," sighed Lydia. "That's the depressing part. Nothing is real."

"It's as real as we make it," Galahad said. "Hey, we're going to a saloon in the West for some drinks. Would you like to come with us?"

Lydia looked up in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, really?" Jill echoed.

"Yes, really," Galahad confirmed. "You look like you could use cheering up."

Lydia looked from Jill to Galahad. "But if it's just the two of you, I don't want to interrupt anything…"

"Just come," Jill said. "If you're coming, you're coming."

Lydia got to her feet and awkwardly followed Jill and Galahad as they continued their journey to the West, chatting to each other about something. Luckily, it was only a short journey to the Western town, and they arrived quickly. One Westerner pointed them towards the Saloon, apparently not bothered that none of them were Westerners.

They quickly found the building marked "Saloon". None of them sure what to expect, they entered.

The building's walls were wooden, that much they could see from the outside. It was dimly lit and held only about half a dozen scattered patrons, a couple by the bar, a couple playing some kind of game in the corner, and most of them sitting at wooden tables. Some relaxing piano music echoed around the room. Nobody moved as the three Merlinians came in.

"We're going to sit down," Jill said to Lydia, pointing to a nearby table. "Okay?"

"You don't have to tell me," Lydia said, giving a smile. "I'll just be at the bar."

As Jill and Galahad sat down at one of the small wooden tables, Lydia wandered up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, next to a Westerner who had a single glass of drink in front of him. He appeared to not have taken even a single sip from it. Lydia waited for a moment but there seemed to be nobody behind the bar.

Then the Westerner spoke: "Do you know what it's like to not be thirsty?"

"Of course I do," Lydia said. "I'm just a miniature museum exhibit, just like you."

"I used to love this drink," the Westerner said wistfully, playing with the rim of the glass. "Used to be my dad's favourite drink. First alcohol I ever tasted and it was thanks to him. Now I can't stomach it."

Feeling a little sorry for him, Lydia gave him a reassuring smile. "Hey, we've got a potential eternity in this exhibit," she said. "Maybe we'll get used to not being hungry or thirsty."

"Maybe." The Westerner smiled back at Lydia. "I'm Caleb."

"Lydia." She paused. "Are you a Westerner?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah I am."

"Sorry." Lydia frowned. "It's just that you don't sound like a Westerner."

"I didn't grow up in the West," Caleb replied. "I was born here—in the West—but I grew up with my grandparents in Colorado, so that's where I got my American accent from. I picked up some mannerisms from the West when I returned as a teenager but I never gained an accent."

"Fair enough," Lydia chuckled. "I'm a Merlinian."

"I thought so," Caleb said. "You don't dress like a Greek or a Roman, and you're definitely not a Westerner. Not only had I never seen you before but you definitely don't talk like a Westerner either."

"Nice observation," laughed Lydia.

Caleb smiled as his fingers traced the rim of his glass yet again. Feeling sorry for him, Lydia waved her hand. Immediately, Caleb felt thirsty. He lifted the glass, downed the drink in one, put the glass back on the bar, and then realised what had just happened. He frowned at the glass. "What was that?"

"I made you temporarily thirsty," Lydia replied. She felt a little panicky at Caleb's frown. "I-I'm sorry, was that the wrong thing to do?"

"No," Caleb replied immediately. "I appreciate it. Thank you. I was just wondering how you did it."

"Oh." Lydia sighed, having forgotten that Caleb wouldn't know of either her abilities or her parentage. "My father is Merlin, the greatest sorcerer in the world. I inherited his magic."

"Is that right?" Caleb looked impressed. "Tell me about your magic. What's everything like in your world?"

Smiling, Lydia told him.

On the other side of the room, Jill and Galahad left when they saw Lydia and the Westerner chatting happily.

"I can't believe the person who made our exhibit put in a pond," Jill commented as they gazed into the clear water of the fairly large pond.

"I bet they change the water really often," Galahad said. "I wonder how deep it is?"

"How about you find out?" Jill suggested mischievously.

Before Galahad could react—and he had very good reactions—Jill shoved him with her body with such force that he toppled into the pond with a yell and disappeared underwater. Jill couldn't stop laughing at the disgruntled look on the knight's face as he resurfaced. "Thank you so much," Galahad said, apparently failing to remain cross with Jill. He was laughing as he stood up in the pond, the water coming up to his chest. He felt the scabbard next to him with his hands. "Where's my sword?"

"Over there," Jill laughed, pointing.

Galahad turned and spotted the sword floating a little way off. He fetched it and slid it back into its scabbard. Jill was just about to comment on the metal sword floating instead of sinking when Galahad climbed out of the pond and took Jill's hand. "Can we be serious for a moment?"

"Okay," Jill said, giggling a little. "Okay," she said again. "Sorry."

"Honestly…Jill, I love you so much," Galahad said, unable to keep himself from smiling as he gazed into the face of the woman he loved. "And I'm not sure how much this means, since we're just wax miniatures…" Galahad knelt down on one knee, causing Jill to gasp in shock, her hands flying to cover her mouth.

"Jill, I want to spend the rest of my existence with you." Galahad tenderly kissed Jill's hand. "Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"Is that a trick question?!" Jill gasped out, blinking to let the tears begin falling down her face. "Of course I will!"

As a couple, they had enjoyed many kisses. Yet somehow, this next kiss was the most enjoyable of all.


	18. Chapter 18

Chase was just coming out of the infirmary when he spotted his friend Caleb sitting on a barrel outside the Saloon. He seemed to be in a blissful daydream. Grinning, Chase headed over. Even as Chase approached, Caleb didn't react.

"Hello, Earth to Caleb." Chase waved his hand in front of Caleb's face.

The Westerner didn't respond, so Chase did the most logical thing and pushed his friend off the barrel. He expected a glare from Caleb as the Westerner got back up, but all Caleb did was say, "Oh, hey Chase."

"What's up with ya?" Chase folded his arms. "I pushed ya off the barrel and ya don' even care."

"Oh, I'm still a bit annoyed with you for that," Caleb said, sitting down on the dusty sand. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Chase asked amusedly. "It must've been truly fascinatin' if you didn't even notice me approachin'."

"It was." A beam appeared on Caleb's face.

Chase raised an eyebrow. "Okay, who's the girl?"

Caleb smirked. "I don't know what you mean."

"I'm pretty sure that was how I was like when I had a crush on Melody all those years ago." Chase sat down in the sand next to Caleb. "Who's the girl?"

"Her name is Lydia," Caleb sighed wistfully. "She's beautiful and funny and enthusiastic about the world. She talked for almost half an hour about magic in her world, and I couldn't stop listening even if I'd wanted to. Her eyes just lit up every time she talked about something she was passionate about. After all the depressing talk of war in the West, it was refreshing to hear someone who actually loves life talk."

"She sounds nice," Chase commented.

Caleb happened to glance over Chase's shoulder and grinned. "Speaking of girls."

Confused, Chase turned his head and saw a shy-looking Ambrosia edging towards them. "Hey Ambrosia. What can we do for ya?"

"I was hoping you and I could go for a walk," Ambrosia said shyly, glancing between Chase and Caleb.

Chase looked back at Caleb, who grinned and shrugged. "Hey, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I gushed about a girl to you and didn't let you have your time. Go on, I'll just daydream here."

Chase grinned. "Thanks Caleb."

He stood up, brushed the sand off his jeans, and smiled at Ambrosia. "Shall we?"

Ambrosia surprised both herself and Chase by reaching out and taking the Westerner's hand. "Where do you want to go?" she asked. "You know the terrain better than I."

"I guess I do." Chase led Ambrosia away from the town and towards the looming mountains.

They walked for a while in silence, before Chase finally said, "How about we sit here?" he suggested. "I know it's dusty and sandy but there's a nice view of town and the rest of the exhibit from here."

"Okay." Ambrosia smoothed down the back of her dress and sat down in the dust. Chase took a seat next to her, the two of them still holding hands.

"Can I ask you something?" Chase asked.

"Sure," smiled Ambrosia.

"Can…can I call you Amy?"

Ambrosia looked both bewildered and pleased. "Uh…okay. Why?"

"It's quicker and easier to say than your full name. Besides, nobody else calls you that, do they?"

Ambrosia shook her head.

"Then it'll be special," Chase smiled. "Is that okay, Amy?"

"It's fine." Ambrosia smiled too. "It's nice." She paused and looked around. "Those mountains must look small to those giants," she commented. "And have you thought about the fact that these mountains are manmade, not natural, like all other mountains?"

"I've never thought about either of those things before," Chase admitted. "But I think there might be some caves up in the mountain so apparently whoever made our exhibit put some serious detail into the larger things like mountains and the smaller things like our town. Have you seen the saloon? It looks exactly how it did when we were all…you know…real and alive." He stopped. "What?"

Ambrosia was gazing at Chase with an amused yet loving look on her face. "Nothing. It's just that you've lost a lot of your Western accent."

"Have I?"

"Yeah. You still talk like a Westerner but your accent isn't so stark."

Chase paused and thought for a moment. "I'm so used to hearing my own voice that I don't think I'd notice."

"Maybe you're spending so much time around me," giggled Ambrosia.

"Or maybe it's the tablet recognising that I'm slowly falling in love," Chase said.

Ambrosia blushed as she gazed into Chase's eyes. "You're falling in love?"

Chase nodded, unable to look away from Ambrosia's own sparkling eyes.

"I think I might be falling in love too," Ambrosia said quietly. "Is it this feeling inside your heart that your life is complete and will never be the same again, and the feeling in your chest that you never want to be apart from them and you want to cherish them for the rest of your life?"

Chase smiled. "That is certainly what I'm feeling, yes."

Ambrosia smiled back. "Then I think I may be falling in love too."

"Anyone I know?" Chase asked, his voice getting slowly softer.

"Perhaps," Ambrosia smiled, her voice also getting softer. "But I have not known him very long, and I fear that it is too early for a relationship."

"Have you asked him how he feels about that?" Chase asked. "Because I think you may be pleased with the answer."

Ambrosia blushed. "I have not asked him. Do you think I should?"

"I think he's just given you his answer," smiled Chase.

Ambrosia beamed, when all of a sudden, she couldn't breathe. Gasping and clutching her throat, Ambrosia wheezed as she tried to signal to Chase what was happening.

"Can't breathe!" she shrieked hoarsely, breaths coming in gasps. "C-can't breathe!"

Chase jumped with fright. Quickly digging into his pockets, he brought out the oxygen machine that he always carried around with him and quickly handed it to Ambrosia, who placed it over her own mouth. Chase activated it, and Ambrosia felt her lungs and body relax as fresh oxygen flowed through her windpipe and into her lungs. When she was sure she was okay, she took away the oxygen machine and gave it back to Chase.

"What was that about?" Chase gasped.

Ambrosia tried to reply but instead she simply began crying hysterically. Chase frowned sympathetically and put his arms around Ambrosia. "What's up?" he asked her. "Are you okay, Amy?"

"I'm sorry," sobbed Ambrosia. She took a shuddering breath in and calmed herself, though tears still trickled down her cheeks. "It's just that…I can't help remembering what Hippocrates said to me in the hour before the attack."

"Julius said you were crying in the plaza when he found you just before the attack," Chase recalled. "What did Hippocrates tell you?"

"He said my attack when I woke up for the first time was no random attack. Somehow, the disease I died of in my previous life has carried over into my miniature body."

"Is it terminal?" Chase asked in deep alarm.

"No." Ambrosia smiled weakly. "That's the only good part. The bad part is that…it's affecting my lungs and windpipe at an alarming rate. Have you noticed that I'm speaking more quietly than I was when we first met?"

Chase frowned for a moment before nodding slowly.

"It's affecting my windpipe," Ambrosia explained quietly. "In just a few months…" She trailed off and sniffed as fresh tears began pouring down her face. "In just a few months, this disease is going to render me mute."

Chase let go of her and stared at her in shock and horror. "Seriously?"

Ambrosia nodded tearfully. "I won't be able to speak at all if the illness continues to affect me at such a rate."

"That's-."

All of a sudden, something sharp struck Chase in the neck, causing him to fall sideways with a cry. Ambrosia hastily wiped her tears away and adjusted her position so that she could see what had hit Chase. "What is it?!" she gasped urgently. "What happened?"

Chase could only groan and yell in pain as he clutched his neck. Ambrosia could see no blood but he was clearly in a lot of pain so she gingerly moved his hands aside and found a small dart embedded in his neck.

"What is this?"

"Poison dart," Chase managed to gasp out. "Mayans."

Ambrosia's blood froze when she heard the word "poison". She looked up and spotted a few people dressed oddly standing fifty metres or so away. "Go away!" she screamed at them. She turned her head towards the town and screamed, "Help!"

"Poison," Chase gasped out in pain. "Gonna…kill…me…"

"HELP!" Ambrosia screamed again. "SOMEBODY!"


	19. Chapter 19

"Octavius, you really must be resting," Athena said disapprovingly, sitting on Octavius's bed.

The general gave her a charming smile from the other side of the room. "Athena, I love you so much, and I truly respect your skill and status as a medic, but I am fine. My wound has almost entirely healed."

"That is what is confusing me," Athena said gently, examining Octavius's side yet again. "Somehow the wound is healing on its own, and this puzzles me. I have done nothing since bandaging it and yet…yet still it heals on its own."

"It's because he's Octavius the miracle man," called Julius's voice from the adjacent room.

Both Octavius and Athena jumped and looked at each other in bewilderment. "Did you know he was here?" Athena asked.

Octavius shook his head and chuckled. "That is Julius for you. Always appearing when you least expect him."

All of a sudden, a Greek woman came rushing into the room, looking both urgent and distressed. Her blonde ponytail was messy and she was breathing heavily as if she'd been running a long way.

"I'm so sorry for bursting in like this," panted the woman. "B-but, someone said I could find Athena in here."

"I am Athena," said Athena, stepping forwards. "Do you need help?"

"It's my boyfriend Chase!" the woman panted. "He's been poisoned and I need a medic to help!"

Athena quickly grabbed her medical supplies bag, which she always had with her. "Lead the way," she said.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Octavius asked as Athena followed the woman to the door.

"Stay here and rest," Athena said firmly. "That is a medical order."

"You should listen to her," came Julius's voice from the adjacent room.

"Yes, thank you, Julius," called Octavius irritably.

"Just relax," Athena said, smiling at her fiancé. "I will be fine."

Ambrosia, having fetched the medic, now began the journey back to the West with Athena in tow.

"What kind of poison is it?" Athena asked as they hurried along.

"I-I don't know," Ambrosia panted. "We were out in the West a-and these weird people shot this dart into Chase's neck!"

"Mayans," Athena said aloud, recalling Octavius telling her about the unsuccessful patrol they had gone on. "They were Mayans. If they have poison darts that can still affect us in our museum bodies, then that is very bad."

"Exactly," Ambrosia breathed. "How did they have poison? Surely the people who made their miniature exhibit wouldn't give them real poison?"

"Perhaps, but then again, the people who made their miniature exhibit might have made them as accurately as possible, seeing as our exhibit was never meant to come to life."

"True."

Ambrosia led Athena straight to the infirmary. There were only a dozen or so beds, much fewer than the Roman infirmary, and only one of them was occupied. Chase was lying in the one nearest the door. His eyes were closed, his skin was deathly pale, and the tiny pinprick where he had been hit with the dart was now a splodge of red.

Jed was sitting by Chase's bedside. When he saw the two women, he said, "Ya just missed another attack."

Ambrosia let out a muted sob and pressed the backs of her fingers to her mouth to stop herself from crying.

"Attack?" Athena repeated. "If I am to help Chase, I will need information about his condition."

"He gets periods like this," Jed explained. "Where he's just like this."

"Then he gets attacks," Ambrosia continued. "Where his whole body shakes and he has a lot of pain. We didn't know what to do."

"Chase is apparently the on'y doctor in the West," Jed said, sighing. "We had to go get outside help."

"Did you not say a while ago that you had your own medic?" Athena asked Ambrosia, who nodded.

"Yes, Hippocrates. Do you want me to go get him?"

Athena nodded. "Yes please. We will need all the medics we can get on this."

Ambrosia gave a determined nod and quickly left the room. At the same moment, a Merlinian woman came into the doorway. "Caleb told me someone had been poisoned," she said, frowning in worry. "I can help."

"Are you a medic?" Athena asked as she began to examine Chase.

"No, but I have magic," the woman replied. "I cannot heal but I can ease pain so it will make it easier for medics to work on him."

"Thank you," Athena said gratefully. "Come in."

At that moment, Chase's body jerked and he let out a scream of pain.

The woman came further into the room, hooked a chair with her foot, brought it round to the side of the bed, and sat down in it. She grasped Chase's flailing hand and concentrated. It only took a few moments for Chase's body to settle.

"Thank you," Athena said. "Miss…?"

"Oh, just call me Lydia," the woman replied, smiling. "I love to help, so it's no problem."

"I think I'd better go," Jed said, standing up. "I need ta update the others on the situation in here."

As he left the room, Athena continued her examination. She used a few treatments from her bag, before letting out an exclamation of frustration. "Nothing is working!"

"It's poison," Lydia said. "Isn't it?"

"Yes." Athena dug around in her bag for anything else.

"I wish I could flush it out of his system with magic," Lydia said wistfully, using more of her magic on Chase as the latter began stirring fitfully. "I wish that was how my magic worked."

At that moment, Ambrosia came back with Hippocrates. The doctor busily went over to Athena and asked, "What do we have?"

As Athena explained, Lydia looked backwards at Ambrosia, who was leaning against the sideboard, attempting not to look at her boyfriend.

"You okay?" Lydia called to her.

"I'm okay," Ambrosia said quietly. "I just don't want to lose Chase."

"None of us do, trust me," Lydia said soothingly. "We're going to do everything we can to treat him."

"I do not know what to do," Athena stressed to Hippocrates. "Please, can you help him?"

Producing a syringe, Hippocrates stuck it into Chase's arm. Ambrosia and Lydia both winced and looked away, neither of them afraid of needles but neither of them too fond of watching one get stabbed into someone's arm like that. When Hippocrates had drawn a sample of Chase's blood, he quickly took it over to the other side of the infirmary. Athena followed him.

"The first thing to do is gain a sample of the poison," Hippocrates said. "If you can identify the poison or even just have a sample of it, you can reverse engineer it into an antidote that will flush it out of the victim's system."

"Is there anything I can do?" Athena asked.

"Learn," Hippocrates said. "By doing it."

With that, he handed the thing he was doing to Athena, who nervously took over. However, during the next ten minutes, she found her confidence growing as she followed Hippocrates's instructions. In fact, she was confident that she would be able to replicate the process at some point in the future if she had to.

Hippocrates put the antidote into another syringe, which he injected into Chase's arm.

"Good work," he told Athena, who, despite the fact that Hippocrates was not her mentor, glowed with the praise.

"Will he be okay?" Ambrosia asked worriedly.

"If the antidote works, he'll be absolutely fine," Hippocrates replied. "Now, I'm afraid anyone who isn't a medic will have to leave."

Lydia nodded, got up, and left straight away. Ambrosia moved over to Chase's side, lifted and kissed his hand tenderly, and then left.

As she stepped out onto the dust, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

 _He's going to be okay._


	20. Chapter 20

Nikki approached the infirmary just as the Greek doctor was exiting it. "Is Chase okay?" she asked urgently.

Hippocrates nodded. "He'll be fine. The antidote is working."

Nikki breathed out in relief. "Can I go in then?" she asked.

"I'm afraid you can't at the moment," Hippocrates replied apologetically. "Athena is with him but he needs to rest while the antidote works. I can assure you that the antidote _is_ working. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients who need attention."

Nikki nodded respectfully as Hippocrates passed her. She glanced back towards the infirmary before deciding to go for a walk. She knew that she would not be able to sit still or wait around until she was able to see Chase, so she decided to be proactive.

She headed into the Plaza and sat down on the raised platform in the middle of the square. Sighing, she lay down on her back with her legs dangling off the edge of the platform. Placing her hands behind her head to protect it from the hard wood, she gazed up at the ceiling. The person who had designed their exhibit had apparently designed the ceiling to project a blue sky with moving clouds. She didn't know why anyone would do that, but she was grateful for it; in her previous life, she had loved just lying back and watching the clouds drift past.

A moment later, she heard a male voice say, "What are you doing?"

Nikki placed her right leg over the other leg at the knee, bouncing her right leg gently. "Watchin' the clouds," she replied. "Someone felt the need ta make the ceilin' that pretty so I'm takin' advantage of it."

"Fair enough."

Nikki felt someone lie down next to her, so she turned her head and saw a young Roman soldier watching the clouds in the same way she herself was. He looked about the same age as Nikki.

"I'm Nikki," she said.

"Rufus," smiled the young man.

"Yer a Roman?"

"A Roman legionary, yes."

"Huh." Nikki paused. "Yer cute."

Rufus blinked, looking surprised, and smiled awkwardly. "Th-thank you."

Nikki grinned. "Did that embarrass ya?"

"No." Rufus sat up slowly, causing Nikki to sit up as well so that she could see him properly. "It is simply that no woman has ever shown any interest in me before, let alone a woman as attractive as yourself."

Nikki giggled like a teenage girl, thoroughly embarrassing herself. She covered it up by coughing deliberately into the top of her fist. "Thanks."

When Rufus said nothing else, Nikki stole a glance at the legionary and found him watching a young woman holding a small child, who was standing on the edge of Rome, seemingly waiting for someone.

"Girlfriend?" Nikki asked, wondering why she felt a spike of jealousy in her heart.

"Oh, no," Rufus replied, instilling a sense of relief in Nikki, making her again wonder why she was feeling like this. "Artemis is my sister."

"Really?" Nikki squinted at the woman. "But ya look nothin' alike."

"Well, she is my half-sister," Rufus explained. "We share a father, but both of us inherited our hair and eye colours from our different mothers."

"Ah, that makes sense," Nikki said. "Who's the baby she's holdin'?"

"I do not know," admitted Rufus. "I have never seen the child before. I know that Artemis has a husband but I did not think she had a child."

Rufus and Nikki watched as a man came up to Artemis and kissed her on the cheek, before giving the baby a slight scowl.

"That's Cassius," Rufus explained. "He is Artemis's husband."

"Guess that look o' pure joy on his face just screams that 'e's the father," Nikki said sarcastically.

Then Artemis shifted the child in her arms, and Rufus caught sight of the child's face. "Ah, I know who that is," Rufus said. "That is Hestia."

"Hestia?"

"Yes," Rufus said. "It is not my business to reveal whose child she is, but I will certainly say that she is not Artemis and Cassius's."

"Alright," Nikki said, nodding. "That's fair enough."

They sat in silence for a moment longer, before Nikki slid off the platform. "I shoul' go," she said. "I wanna visit mah brother in th' infirmary. Will I see ya again?"

"I will be around," Rufus said. "It seems that there is no fighting to do nowadays so legionaries like me have nothing to occupy our time."

"Ya could visit the West," suggested Nikki. "We have a great saloon wi' drinks an' music. It's nice. Ya should pop by."

"Maybe I will," Rufus smiled. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Nikki."

"Likewise, Rufus."

…

Lydia was heading back to the West to check on Chase. It had been two hours since she had left him, and she wanted to see if the antidote had worked.

As she approached the infirmary, she saw the young Westerner from the other day sitting on the steps outside the building. Ignoring the swooping feeling in her chest that came with seeing him again, she gave him a smile. "Hi Caleb."

Caleb started and his eyes focused on Lydia. "Oh…h-hi, Lydia."

Lydia frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Just worried about Chase," Caleb admitted. "Athena says the antidote isn't working as quickly as she was hoping."

"I guess we're not allowed in?"

Caleb nodded morosely. "Yeah. I wish I could see him but Athena insists that he needs rest, and if that's the best thing for him, then I'm not going to disobey."

"Good point," Lydia said. "Would you like to come and do something with me to take your mind off the situation?"

"No offense, Lydia, but I'd rather stay close to Chase so I can be told quickly if something happens," Caleb said.

"That's fine, no offense taken." Lydia held her hands up. "Then maybe you'd be okay with someone waiting with you?"

"Really?" Caleb looked hopeful. "You'd be willing to sit with me? It could take a while."

"Well, it's only a few minutes away from sunrise, so we'll be frozen soon," Lydia said, sitting beside Caleb.

"It's that time already?" Caleb sighed. "Well, I guess I could use a rest."

"I'm sure Chase will continue to get better while we sleep," Lydia said reassuringly. "For now, let's get into comfortable positions so we're not sore when we wake up tomorrow night."

"Yeah, don't want to freeze in the middle of falling over," Caleb grinned. "That's what happened to me the first night of living."

Lydia laughed for a minute, before quietening down and gazing off dreamily into the distance. "I'd love to see another sunrise," she said wistfully.

"Maybe one day," Caleb said, smiling at Lydia. He took her hand in his and placed his other hand on top of hers. "One day."

And that was how, just a few seconds later, they froze.


	21. Chapter 21

Ambrosia sat on the bed in her room, worrying about Chase. She had tried to close her eyes and sleep—or at the very least rest—but that hadn't worked so she was reduced to simply sitting on the edge of her bed and letting her worries consume her.

Someone knocked at the door. "Come in," Ambrosia said dully.

The door opened, and a pretty blonde-haired woman who was just older than Ambrosia poked her head round the door. "Are you going to sulk all day?" she asked. "Or can we do something fun?"

"I am not sulking," Ambrosia argued feebly. "I am simply sitting here, worrying about Chase."

"Sulking," pressed Ambrosia's sister.

Ambrosia sighed, relenting. "I have only just unfrozen, Olympia. I am waiting until someone comes and says I can see Chase."

"I'd like to meet Chase," Olympia said, grinning. "It's not every day that my little sister gets a crush."

"He is my boyfriend, not my crush," Ambrosia snapped, causing Olympia to hold up her hands in surrender.

"Okay, he's your boyfriend."

Ambrosia scowled, got off the bed, and pushed past Olympia on her way to the door. "You don't believe me."

"Hey, no, it's not that," Olympia said defensively, grabbing her sister's wrist to make her stop. "It's just that I can't imagine my cute little baby sister having a boyfriend."

"I've grown up, Olympia," Ambrosia snapped. "I'm not a little child anymore. I'm only four years younger than you." An idea suddenly came to her mind, and she interrupted Olympia as her sister was about to speak again. "You want to do something fun? Get your sandals."

"Where are we going?"

"I'll tell you later." Ambrosia pushed Olympia out of her room. "Meet me outside in ten minutes."

Ambrosia watched Olympia head over to her room, before closing the door. She knew what she had to do, and she was feeling nervous about it. But at the same time, she desperately needed to do it. If she didn't, she knew what happened to Chase might happen again.

Ten minutes later, Ambrosia met Olympia outside their house.

"Alright, where are we going?" Olympia asked.

"For a walk," Ambrosia replied. "In the West."

Olympia raised an eyebrow, an expression of slight trepidation on her face. "Any particular reason you chose the West?"

"No." Ambrosia smiled innocently at her sister. "What reason would there be?"

"So you can check in on your boyfriend?"

Ambrosia internally breathed out in relief. Olympia thought she wanted to go to the West to see Chase. "Well, would that be such a bad thing?"

"Yes," Olympia said firmly. "I am not coming with you if all you want is to see your boyfriend."

"Fine," sighed Ambrosia, pretending to be disappointed and annoyed. "We don't have to see Chase." She made a pleading look. "Please come with me, Oli. I haven't spent any time with you since we woke up."

Olympia folded her arms. "As long as you don't gabble about how amazing your boyfriend is."

"Does that sound like something I would do?" Ambrosia asked, grinning. "Come on, you're my sister and I love you."

"I hate you for making me come with you," sighed Olympia, but she stood up straighter and added, "All right, let's go."

Ambrosia clapped happily. "Yay!"

Olympia raised an amused eyebrow. "And you say you're not a little child anymore."

Ambrosia swatted her sister's shoulder. "Are we going or not?"

"Sure."

They walked in completely silence until they reached the spot where Chase and Ambrosia had been attacked by the Mayans. Ambrosia looked round in case any Mayans were there, but the place was deserted apart from the two sisters.

"Where are they…?" muttered Ambrosia.

"Now what?" asked Olympia, not hearing her sister. "We're out here alone. Did you want to talk or something?"

"Caves," Ambrosia said absently aloud. "They might live in caves."

"What might?" Olympia turned to face Ambrosia. "What are you talking about?"

"Hmm?" Ambrosia looked at her sister. "What?"

Olympia's facial expression quickly changed to one of dread and alarm. "Ambrosia, what did you bring me here for?"

"Nothing," Ambrosia lied, looking round again.

Olympia angrily seized her sister's wrist. "Ambrosia, you better tell me what you're-!"

At that moment, what sounded like a battle cry echoed across the plain, making the two girls jump. A split second later, half a dozen of the Mayans came running out of nowhere, towards the sisters. Olympia screamed but Ambrosia hurriedly stepped forwards, held her hands up, and yelled, "Wait! I wish to speak to your leader!"

"What the Hades do you think you're doing?!" shrieked Olympia.

The Mayan patrol slowly edged closer to Ambrosia until they were just a few metres away. "Leader?" repeated one of them.

Ambrosia repeated the word in Greek, in case they understood Greek.

"They don't understand Greek!" hissed Olympia, who by now had edged behind Ambrosia for protection.

"We have to try everything," Ambrosia said out of the corner of her mouth.

"Leader," the same Mayan repeated. "We take you leader."

Ambrosia paused, before turning her head halfway—so that she could still keep an eye on the Mayans—and muttering to her sister, "Does that mean they're going to take our leader or take us to THEIR leader?"

Olympia just stared, open-mouthed, back at her in horror.

"Take us to your leader," Ambrosia said slowly and deliberately, pointing up to the caves in the off-chance that that was where they lived.

The Mayans jabbered to each other in a weird language for a minute, before what seemed to be the leader of the patrol pointed at the two girls. Immediately, two Mayans went forward, each taking hold of one of the girls' wrists. Olympia shot Ambrosia a frightened look, but Ambrosia kept strong. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest but she forced herself to keep a calm exterior.

The Mayans began marching Ambrosia and Olympia towards the caves.


	22. Chapter 22

As they walked, Olympia narrowed her eyes at Ambrosia, who did her best to ignore her sister.

"Is this part of your plan?" she snapped. "Was the whole reason you wanted us to go for a walk up here so that you could get us kidnapped?"

"It was more of a two birds with one stone thing," Ambrosia replied truthfully, not looking at her sister. "I got to spend time with you and also do this."

"What exactly is "this"?" asked Ambrosia, making air quotes with her fingers over the word "this".

"I'm going to talk to the leader of the Mayans and ask him to not come down to the West or any of the other lands."

Olympia stared at Ambrosia. "…seriously?"

Ambrosia nodded resignedly, still not looking at her sister.

"Oh, we are going to die," groaned Olympia. "We are dead already."

"Stop moaning."

"I can't die!" Olympia gasped, sounding on the verge of a panic attack. Her breaths were coming in gasps. "I can't die now!"

"Calm down."

"There's still so much I wanted to do! I wanted to at least make it to thirty…I'm only twenty-seven! Twenty-seven! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

Ambrosia's hand moved quickly and suddenly. The noise that came next drew a glare from the patrol leader. Olympia rubbed her stinging cheek and stared at Ambrosia in shock. "Y-you hit me."

"You wouldn't calm down," Ambrosia said apologetically. "I'm sorry."

But Olympia wouldn't talk to Ambrosia for the rest of the walk.

The caves were not far up the mountain so they did not have to walk far up. As they entered, Ambrosia rubbed her bare arms against the chill. Olympia was doing the same, but when Ambrosia reached out to give her a hug, Olympia dodged out of the way, still made at Ambrosia for slapping her.

They reached a small room that was carved into the cliff. It was circular and filled with Mayans, causing even Ambrosia to experience a stab of crippling fear in her heart. In the middle of the room stood a chair that was clearly a throne, and on this throne sat a man who was clearly the leader of the Mayans.

The two Mayans leading Ambrosia and Olympia pushed them to the ground in front of the important man. The Mayans all then knelt respectfully. The terrified Olympia adjusted her position so that she looked like she was worshipping the man. Ambrosia, however, defiantly stood up.

"Are you the leader?" she demanded.

The man slowly nodded. "Kukulcan," he said. "My name Kukulcan." He regarded Ambrosia sternly. "To come here alone, you are either brave or stupid."

"I like to consider myself both." Ambrosia stepped forwards, drawing hisses from several Mayans. "Sir, I have something to say to you," she said, forcing herself to appear calm, despite the fact that every instinct in her body was screaming at her to either bow down or turn and run. "Yesterday, a patrol of yours injured my boyfriend."

"Boy-friend," repeated Kukulcan, looking confused. "I do not understand."

"The man I love," Ambrosia explained, earning her an odd look from Olympia, who was still on the ground.

Kukulcan's expression dawned. "This I understand. Continue."

"We were not doing anything to you," Ambrosia continued. "We were simply taking a walk and enjoying each other's company. Your patrol attacked us with neither warning nor provocation."

Kukulcan frowned.

"No cause," Ambrosia simplified.

Kukulcan nodded.

"The point is: I wish for you to tell your people either to not come down into our territories or to not attack us without first being attacked. It is not fair on us." Ambrosia felt tears come into her eyes as she said, "Chase almost died from your poison. I-I don't know what I would do without him. I do not wish anyone else to have to experience the feeling of fearing the loss of a loved one. I beg you: please do not attack without cause."

Kukulcan considered this. Quite a few of the Mayans in the room, Ambrosia noticed, were watching him intently. Apparently they would do only whatever he said. "Intentions are honourable," he said eventually. "Patrol was scouting."

Ambrosia nodded. "I do understand that. You were in a new place and you had to scout the territory. The problem was that your patrol attacked without cause."

"We will attack without cause no more," Kukulcan said. "We will keep to mountain cave."

"There's no need for that," Ambrosia said. "You can come down sometimes but please only attack if provoked."

Kukulcan frowned. "Is easier to stay away."

Ambrosia also frowned. "I-I suppose. But…but thank you for listening to me and heeding my advice."

"Is no bother," Kukulcan said. "Kukulcan did not realise patrol caused problem." He sharply spoke to the Mayans in the room in their own language.

A moment later, two Mayans helped Olympia stand up.

"You go now," Kukulcan said.

Ambrosia nodded gracefully. "Thank you."

She turned and walked towards the exit with Olympia in tow. The Mayans kept out of their way, and soon they were out in the light. Ambrosia turned to her sister to begin apologising but Olympia held up her hand, cutting Ambrosia off. "I have no words to describe what you just put me through," she said slowly. Ambrosia could tell that her sister's heart was still pounding. "But I am going to forgive you because your intentions were good."

Ambrosia suddenly wrapped her arms around her sister's chest and hugged her tightly, her head pressed against Olympia's chest. "I'm so sorry for lying to you," Ambrosia whispered. "I hate lying to you."

"You didn't lie," Olympia said, attempting to make her sister feel better. "You just didn't tell me the whole truth, that's all."

Ambrosia sniffled.

"Hey, how about we go see your boyfriend?" Olympia offered. "You can introduce me to him."

"I…I guess it wouldn't hurt to see if we're allowed to visit him yet," Ambrosia admitted. "Thank you, Oli. You're the best sister ever."

"I know."

"Don't ruin the moment."

Olympia chuckled. "Sorry."


	23. Chapter 23

Genie sighed tiredly as she slumped down on the stone steps of King Arthur's palace. She had been exploring the castle for the last two straight nights, almost missing the announcement that they were just museum exhibits. She had been searching for any clues as to what had happened to King Arthur and where he might be, but she had found nothing. Now she was tired.

She closed her eyes and listened to the few sounded of the exhibit. She could hear some people talking and some footsteps, which seemed to be getting louder. She opened one eye and caught sight of a familiar tall woman coming towards her.

"Hi Mum," she said wearily, closing the eye again.

There was a pause as Veronica sat down on the steps beside Genie. "How are you?" she asked.

"Worrying about Dad," Genie confessed. "How are you holding up on that front?"

"I haven't stopped searching," sighed Veronica. "I wish I could find Balthazar."

"I miss him," Genie said sadly. "Mum, I miss him so much."

"I know you do," Veronica said. "I do too. But for now, all we can do is keep looking and hoping we'll find him."

"Hey guys," Jill sighed as she literally appeared out of nowhere. "No luck finding Balthazar?"

Genie and Veronica both shook their heads simultaneously.

Jill then sat down on Genie's other side.

"I'm worried about my father too," Veronica said. "I know something's controlling him. He's such a wise and gentle king that I can't imagine him doing this of his own volition and power."

"Is it possible he's actually a sorcerer?" asked Jill hesitantly.

Veronica thought for a moment. "If he is, it'll be the best kept secret in all of Camelot," she replied finally. "I'm sure someone would have found out about it if he really is a sorcerer."

"But it's possible?" Jill pressed.

"It's possible," agreed Veronica. "It's certainly possible. We can't count it out." She paused, staring off into space. "I often suspected him to be a sorcerer when I was little," she said quietly. "After all, Mother was certainly no sorceress and I must have got my magic from somewhere."

"I thought you just trained to be a sorcerer," Genie said, frowning.

Veronica shook her head. "The child of a sorcerer may not have magic but a child who does have magic must have inherited it from somewhere. One can't train to be a sorcerer if they do not have magic in their blood."

"Then Arthur must be a sorcerer," Jill said, thinking aloud. "But what would possess him to attack the leaders like that?"

"I suspect you've got it," Veronica said, pointing at Jill. "Possession. Probably Horvath," she added disgustedly, saying Horvath's name as if she was spitting it. "You can bet he has a plan to raise Morgana, just as he has for the last two centuries."

"Morgana," Jill repeated, the name leaving a bad taste in her mouth. "She killed me."

"And me," Genie said.

"And me as well," Veronica said, narrowing her eyes. "I wish there was some way to defeat her once and for all. But without Merlin, we can't-."

"We can," interrupted Genie. "There's a prophecy, remember?"

"Yes, the prophecy that can only apply to Merlin and Arthur," Veronica said.

"Sorry, but what prophecy?" asked Jill.

"Morgana can only be defeated by the child of a great sorcerer and one with royal blood," Veronica explained. "That is, Arthur and Merlin."

"Merlin's the child of a great sorcerer?"

"The Ancient One," Genie told Jill. "She was said to be so powerful that she could move planets, control oceans, and bend reality itself."

"Was she really that powerful?" Jill asked doubtfully.

"She only passed on a fraction of her power to Merlin, and he was still literally twenty times more powerful than the rest of the sorcerers combined," Veronica said bluntly.

"Fair point," Jill said. "So Merlin is the child of a great sorcerer." She paused. "Apparently, "great" being the understatement of the millennium."

"That's a very big understatement," Genie said.

"And Arthur is the one with royal blood," Jill continued. "But seeing as one is MIA and the other is AWOL, neither are viable options, are they?"

"What's the difference between MIA and AWOL?" Genie inquired.

"Arthur's Missing In Action because he's literally missing in action. No-one's seen or heard anything of him, despite all our searches. Merlin is Absent With Out Leave because he's literally absent without leave. Nobody knows where he is or why he isn't here."

"That's not important," interrupted Veronica. "The point is as Jill says: neither are options right now. If Horvath does indeed succeed in raising Morgana-."

"He won't," Jill butted in. "He's tried and failed for two centuries. What makes this time any different?"

"Because this time, my plan is foolproof," said Horvath's voice.

All three women sprung to their feet in alarm, all looking around hurriedly.

"I hate to do this to you, Veronica," sighed Horvath's disembodied voice. "I really do. I've always liked you, even though you had to go and marry Balthazar."

"Where is he?!" shrieked Veronica angrily. "Tell me where Balthazar is!"

But Horvath continued as if Veronica hadn't spoken: "But I cannot let anything get in the way of my goal."

The air a few metres away from Jill shimmered, and a human form became visible. "There!" Jill screeched.

The air gave a graceful shimmer. A split second later, Genie screamed in pain and collapsed backwards. Jill automatically caught her best friend but the girl's weight was too much, and the two of them fell to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Jill saw Horvath grab Veronica and disappear, leaving Veronica's final scream to echo around the square.

Jill rolled Genie over and, to her horror, found a horrible burn across her best friend's chest. "Genie…!" whispered Jill in panic. "J-just hang on, Genie! Hang on!"

She threw her head backwards and screamed, "HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

She quickly used some of her magic to ease Genie's pain a little, but she couldn't heal and she knew it. Tears sprung to Jill's eyes as she desperately tried to help her dying best friend.

"Please…!" sobbed Jill. "Please stay with me, Genie! Y-you're my be-best f-friend…please d-don't leave m-me!"

She turned her head away and screamed for help again as she clutched Genie, feeling her best friend's heartbeat get slower and slower.

"Jill…" rasped Genie.

Jill looked back down at Genie, crying freely. "Just stay with me," she cried. "Help is coming, you just have to stay awake!"

"You've…always been…a…sister…to me…" Genie croaked. "I…I l-love…you…"

Then her eyes slowly closed and Jill felt her pulse deaden.

"No, no!" screamed Jill. "Genie! GENIE!"


	24. Chapter 24

Julius was talking to Octavius in the Plaza when they both heard Jill screaming. By the time they tracked the voice, a crowd of people had gathered, obscuring Jill. Octavius managed to clear a path to the front, where he and Julius both saw, to their horror, Jill numbly clutching the body of a teenage girl. Octavius automatically knelt next to her and felt for a pulse, but Julius already knew he wasn't going to find one.

"What happened?" someone in the small crowd demanded of Jill.

But Jill either wouldn't or couldn't speak.

Octavius gently but sternly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jill, what happened?"

"She killed Genie!" yelled a random man's voice.

Jill did not refute this. All she managed to do was turn her head to face the direction of the voice.

Then Lydia appeared out of the crowd and joined Octavius next to Jill. Her face held immense sympathy and sadness—even though she hadn't known Genie personally—as she copied Octavius's motion and said, "You need to tell us what happened."

"I saw what happened!" a different random man yelled.

Lydia turned to look in the general direction of the man. "Then will you please come forward and tell everyone what you saw?"

Out of the crowd stepped a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was clearly a Merlinian. "My name is Leo," he said, his whole body shaking. He seemed quite nervous. "I-I saw what happened."

"Are you okay?" Lydia asked gently. "You seem shaken up."

"I just witnessed Jill use her magic to shoot fire at that other girl," Leo snapped. "Of course I'm shaken up."

"Are you certain of what you saw?" Octavius asked.

Leo nodded shakily. "I saw it. There was also another woman here: Veronica. I saw Jill shoot that girl with fire and then cast some kind of spell on Veronica, making her disappear. She-she needs to be charged with both murder and kidnapping."

"Do you have any evidence?" Lydia asked calmly.

Leo's shoulders tensed, but at that moment, an older woman stepped out of the crowd. "Is young Leo's testimony not evidence enough?" she demanded angrily.

"Of course not-," Lydia began.

"You have an eyewitness account!" shouted someone else in the crowd. "What more do you want?"

"One eyewitness account does not prove guilt," Lydia said steadily, looking straight at Leo, who wilted under her hard stare.

"Why not?" demanded the first woman. "The girl is clearly guilty!"

"No I'm not!" Jill suddenly yelled, finally defending herself. "Lydia, it was Horvath! He appeared out of nowhere and killed Genie and took Veronica!"

"Liar!" someone hollered.

"It's true!" Jill shouted desperately. "I wouldn't kill Genie! She's my best friend! Or…she…she was…"

"Get justice for Genie!" someone yelled.

"Justice for Genie!" chanted the crowd. "Justice for Genie!"

"Stop!"

Another woman pushed through the crowd, this one Jill recognised. "Ambrosia…!" gasped Jill.

"Jill didn't do this!" Ambrosia shouted to the crowd.

"Did you see what happened?" Leo demanded.

"No," Ambrosia admitted. "But I know Jill, and she wouldn't kill _any_ one, let alone her best friend!"

"Oh, so knowing Jill is a more dependable testimony than an eyewitness account?" Leo snapped.

"Just calm down, everyone!" Lydia shouted. "Nobody is accusing anyone of anything, so we all just need to-."

"What do you mean "nobody is accusing anyone of anything"?!" snapped Leo. "I just told you that I saw her attack her friend! How is that NOT an accusation?!"

"Arrest her!" someone yelled.

"Now, hold on!" Lydia shouted.

Everything seemed to happen at once. Someone threw a brick at Lydia, hitting her on the head and knocking her out. At the same moment, the crowd surged in on Jill, forcing Octavius to retreat out of the crowd to avoid being crushed. Julius hurriedly pulled Octavius out of the way and the two of them stepped back, unable to do anything to the crowd.

"Arrest her!" yelled several people in the crowd.

"Lydia!" bleated Jill in terror, shaking her friend. Jill couldn't use her magic to hold back the crowd because that would just further convince them of her own guilt. And Jill was not as good a diplomat as Lydia, so the only person who could save her from being arrested and/or beaten to death was lying unconscious in front of her. She had barely any energy to teleport away. If she wanted to teleport, she would have to use someone else's energy.

Looking wildly around for a way out, Jill spotted Ambrosia standing outside the crowd circle, a horrified look on her face. Looking at her, Jill had an idea, but she didn't like it.

 _There's only one way out of this,_ said a voice in her head. _Do it._

 _I'm so sorry, Ambrosia._

Jill suddenly got to her feet and lunged at the crowd, causing them all to step back in alarm.

"She's going to attack us!" Leo yelled in fear.

Jill dived off the steps, forward-rolled in the small space between two people, and raced towards Ambrosia, who took a panicked step back. Jill grabbed Ambrosia's wrist and held on, even when Ambrosia struggled. Jill looked apologetically at Ambrosia as she used her magic to sap some of the Greek woman's strength, causing her to sag. Then Jill cast a teleportation spell, transporting both her and Ambrosia away.

"Jill!" yelled Julius.

"They're gone!" a man yelled. "Find them!"

The crowd immediately spread out searching, leaving Julius and Octavius behind in front of the building, thoroughly stunned.

"I do not believe Jill killed that girl," Octavius said, turning to look at Julius. "Do you not agree?"

Julius stared down at the ground and didn't answer.

"Julius?" Octavius frowned at his cousin. "Are you all right?"

"Everyone's against Jill now," Julius said quietly. "For something she didn't do. We have to help her."

"We will," Octavius assured his cousin. "I promise you, Jill will not suffer for something she did not do."


	25. Chapter 25

Leo went straight to the meeting point, wishing he didn't exist. He hated his whole life at this moment. He hated the way he had had to condemn an innocent woman, all because of that stupid man.

The meeting point was the senate building, in the side wing. Leo hesitantly stepped through the door and into the small room. Waiting for him was the man he hated most in all the world, lazing in a chair with his feet on the desk in front of him. He clapped slowly as Leo came in.

"I saw you out there," Horvath said. "A truly impressive performance. One would believe that you truly saw that woman kill the girl."

Leo glared at Horvath with pure hatred. "I hate you."

"I know you do," Horvath said, smirking. "But I also know you'd do anything when given the right motivation."

Leo slammed his fists on the desk. "Where is my son?!" he yelled.

Horvath clicked his fingers. Instantly, a transparent bubble appeared, levitating a metre or so off the ground. Inside the bubble crouched a terrified five-year-old boy, who immediately caught sight of Leo. "Daddy!" he shrieked.

"Ethan!"

Tears sprung to Leo's eyes as he raced forwards and placed both hands on the bubble, desperately trying to reach his distressed son. He turned his head to face Horvath, who looked rather unaffected, and yelled, "I've done what you asked, now let my son go!"

Horvath waved his hand, causing the bubble around Ethan to disappear. Leo caught the small boy as he fell and fell to his knees, hugging his son tightly. Ethan was sobbing and shaking as Leo clutched him and soothed him. "It's alright, Ethan. I'm here. It's okay, I'm here. Shh…I'm here."

Slowly, Ethan calmed down. His little fists clutched Leo's shirt as he recovered from his terror and began to relax into his father's embrace.

Then Horvath waved his hand for a second time, and Ethan was wrenched away from Leo, who got pushed up against the wall when he tried to move. The force on Leo was so much that he wasn't even moving and he felt dull pain through his whole body.

"Oh Leo," sighed Horvath, shaking his head. "I wish I could let you go. But I can't. If I make you do something else, there's a risk of someone finding out about this. And I can't let you go with your son, or you'll tell someone. So I'm afraid I must incarcerate you and your son."

"Not…Ethan…!" Leo managed to gasp out. "P-please!"

"I'm sorry," Horvath said, not sounding very sorry to Leo.

All of a sudden, Horvath yelped in pain and Leo fell to the floor, dull pain radiating through his whole body. Through bleary eyes, he saw Horvath raise his hand. The sharp slap and Ethan's scream of pain woke Leo up properly. He hurriedly crawled over to his screaming son and hugged him tightly.

"How dare you hit my son!" Leo yelled, livid. He stood up, still clutching Ethan, and glared at Horvath.

The sorcerer shrugged. "He kicked me."

"And I think you deserved it!" Leo snapped. "How dare you hit my son, after everything you've put us through!"

"Watch your tone," Horvath snapped. "I can kill you with a wave of my hand."

"Go ahead," dared Leo. "Kill me, then."

"May I remind you that your wife is still missing," Horvath said sternly. "And I don't think you want to leave your son without any parent to look after him."

Leo glared at Horvath. "I hate you."

"Yes, we've established that." Horvath smirked at Leo. "I was intending to simply lock you two up, but now I have several punishments in mind for you."

Leo's blood ran cold.

"How do you feel about being separated from each other by a glass wall and having to watch your son suffer?" Horvath asked mock-innocently.

"Stay away from my son!" Leo yelled angrily.

Horvath waved his hand, and Leo and Ethan disappeared.

Turning in his chair, Horvath faced the horrified person in the entrance. "I trust you saw all that?" he asked.

The person nodded slowly.

"Unfortunately, I have had to kidnap your loved one as well," Horvath said.

The person's face changed to an expression of shock. "Wh-what?! Why?!"

"To ensure your cooperation," Horvath replied calmly, as if this was obvious. "Now, have you done your part?"

The person visibly forced themself to be calm, clearly deciding that the only way to help their loved one was to cooperate. "Yes. I have found Excalibur. It is in the hands of one of the knights, and I know which one."

"Excellent. Your orders now are to obtain the sword by any means necessary. Kill the knight if you have to."

The person hesitated. "I-I was not under the impression that I would have to kill anyone."

"Are you not used to killing?"

"Yes: bad people," the person snapped. "I kill bad people. That's my job. I can't kill someone who's only doing their job!"

"Then perhaps I will simply kill her," Horvath said lazily, twiddling a coin between his fingers with magic. "In front of you."

"I-I…" The person swallowed. "I-I will do it. But you have to let her go once I've done it, yes?"

"Yes," agreed Horvath. "Now go and get me the sword."


	26. Chapter 26

Ambrosia stumbled as she rematerialized. She felt crippling nausea wash through her stomach and she had to stagger backwards until she found something to sit on. It was hard and felt suspiciously like a rock. Looking around, she saw that she was in a small cave that looked like a much smaller version of the Mayans' cave.

In front of her, Jill angrily cursed as she paced the width of the cave. Ambrosia felt a little scared to interrupt Jill to ask all the questions she had, so she just kept silent and carried on watching the angry Merlinian.

Eventually, Jill stopped pacing and ran her fingers through her hair, her expression changing from anger to horror. "I cannot believe I just did that," Ambrosia heard her whisper.

"Um…J-Jill?"

Jill turned to look at Ambrosia, who raised her hand like she was in school. "I kinda have some questions."

Jill groaned aloud and smacked herself in the forehead. "Of course you do. I'm sorry. But first of all, I need to apologise for bringing you here in the first place."

Now that Jill was calm, Ambrosia could find herself getting angrier at the whole situation and mostly at Jill. She took a deep breath and coldly said, "That was actually one of my questions. Why _did_ you bring us here?"

"It was the only safe place I could think of in such short notice," sighed Jill, flopping down on the rock next to Ambrosia. "And…I guess I owe you an explanation for quite a lot of things."

Ambrosia held up her hand, halting Jill's speech. She was struggling to remain calm and not lose her temper. Jill anxiously watched Ambrosia take deep breaths and try to stop her neck and head from shaking. "Why?" Ambrosia said finally. "Why did you choose me? Why did you take my strength? Why did you have to teleport us away? WHY ME?!"

The last question ended up being yelled, causing Jill to flinch. "I thought you would be the only one to understand," Jill said quietly. "I saw Julius but I couldn't do that to him because he neither likes nor trusts me after the senate incident. I thought you would be the only one to understand why."

"Well I don't!" shouted Ambrosia. "I know why you had to teleport away, since that crowd was going to kill you or at the very least arrest you, but why did you have to take my strength?!"

"Because I had no strength of my own," Jill replied. "I couldn't have just teleported myself away because I had no strength left. I had to use yours."

"…did you have to bring me with you?" Ambrosia asked dangerously.

Jill hung her head. "N-no."

"THEN WHY DID YOU?!" Ambrosia screeched at Jill, who flinched for the second time.

"I understand you're mad at me, but-."

"No, you DON'T understand!" Ambrosia yelled, getting up from the rock and striding a little way into the cave, trying to expel the majority of her anger through her voice; she didn't like blowing up at people. "You don't understand at all! When I was little, I was picked on by the other children because I was smaller than them. They kept pushing me around because they thought I was weaker than them. I spent years building up this image of myself with them, an image that told those children I wasn't weaker than them. Then when I was fourteen, a man came to our house and kidnapped me to hold for ransom."

Jill looked stunned.

"I was eventually freed without my parents having to pay ransom but I was ruined. Those children who used to make fun of me began doing it again. I had proved myself to be weaker than them by being kidnapped so easily. Even into my adult life, I had people treating me like a small child while giving me adult responsibilities. But now…it was great. My sister told everyone about how I stood up to the Mayan leader and that earned me new respect. I had people who used to be mean to me be nice to me. Then you had to go ruin it all by kidnapping me!"

Jill's face creased up. "Ambrosia, I'm so sor-."

"I don't care about apologies!" Ambrosia snapped. "It's done now. There's nothing I can do anymore. I'm doomed to forever have this reputation that I'm just a weak and easily-pushed-around woman."

Her anger mostly spent, she smoothed her dress down and sat on the floor with her back against the cave. Jill got up, went over to her, and hesitantly sat down next to her.

"Do you know what I've noticed?" she asked.

This was dangerous, considering Ambrosia's current state of mind, but the Greek woman simply gave a grunt.

"You speak in contractions when you're mad," Jill told her. "And your speech is a lot more informal. Can…can I be honest?"

Another grunt from Ambrosia, which Jill took to be a yes, even though she knew she was still treading on thin ice.

"If you'd been yelling at me in that formal language you always use, I wouldn't be feeling as bad as I am now."

Ambrosia turned to look at Jill, who avoided the Greek woman's gaze.

"You're always so softly-spoken. If you'd used formal language just now, I would have assumed you weren't really mad at me, maybe just letting off steam. But when you're mad, you change the whole way you talk, probably inadvertently. It made me realise you really are furious with me. And I don't blame you, don't get me wrong. It's just that…I never imagined that you were capable of getting so angry that your whole speech pattern would change. Believe me, if I had known about your past, I wouldn't have chosen you. I just needed a quick escape."

Ambrosia turned away and considered this.

"You can leave if you want," Jill said, gesturing listlessly to the cave entrance. "I won't stop you. You don't have to stay."

Ambrosia slowly got to her feet and wandered over to the cave entrance, looking out. The cave seemed to be towards the top of the mountain; she could see much further than she had from the Mayan cave. She could see many people walking about in the four sections, plus two people in the Plaza who looked suspiciously like Julius and Octavius.

"You do realise you just made yourself look like the bad guy even more," she said.

Jill nodded morosely. "I know. But I was about to be arrested for something I didn't do; I had to flee."

"I mean when you took me with you," Ambrosia said.

"I know that too."

There was silence in the cave for a few minutes as Jill closed her eyes and Ambrosia continued gazing out the cave entrance, watching the people in the land below them.

"So what now?" asked Ambrosia.

Jill gave her friend a look. "I-I guess we just wait up here until things calm down."


	27. Chapter 27

Caleb worriedly watched Chase as his friend jumped on top of a boulder, stabbed an invisible enemy with an invisible sword, and then somersaulted off.

"Chase, please don't do that," Caleb groaned. "You're making me nervous."

"Why?" Chase asked, sitting back down on the boulder next to Caleb.

"Maybe because just a few hours ago, you were dying from a poisoned wound," Caleb said dryly.

"But I'm all better," Chase said, showing Caleb his clear neck. "See? No wound. No poison."

"Besides, we're supposed to be on guard, remember?" Caleb sighed and pushed Chase away. "I still can't believe a Merlinian was killed an hour ago. It all seems so real now. We may just be museum exhibits, but we fully come to life at night. We become flesh and blood with beating hearts and working brains. People can die at night and they never come back. It's all a bit pointless, isn't it? Our existence is just one big circle of coming to life and then freezing again. It's going to be like this infinitely, until the tablet either is removed or stops working."

An awkward silence followed this, broken by Chase elbowing his friend in the ribs. "C'mon, Caleb. Lighten up. This existential crisis you're having is makin' me feel sad for no reason."

Caleb sighed. "Sorry. I'm not sure why I'm like this at the moment."

"Maybe you're worried about Lydia," suggested Chase. "After all, since the Merlinian was killed, you haven't had any contact with her so you're probably worried about her."

Caleb stared at Chase. "You know, you're beginning to sound more like me."

"Really?"

"You've lost a lot of your accent."

"Funnily enough, you're not the first person to say that to me."

Caleb was about to ask who the other person was when they both spotted a figure stumbling across the dust towards them. The figure looked female. Chase was unable to recognise her face, even when she came closer, but Caleb succeeded where Chase had failed.

"Lydia!"

Caleb pushed himself off the rock and ran towards the woman. Chase followed, just in case she needed medical assistance. As they neared her, Chase saw that she did. There was a deep cut in her forehead that was leaking blood at a rather alarming rate. Just as they reached her, Lydia collapsed. Caleb gently caught her and lowered her to the ground while Chase took out a clean handkerchief and began wiping the cut on Lydia's forehead.

"Is she going to be okay?" Caleb asked Chase worriedly.

"She probably got knocked out by whatever hit her," Chase said. "It's caused some bleeding but it'll probably clear up by tomorrow, what with the tablet's magic. It's most definitely not life-threatening."

Caleb sighed in relief.

Then Lydia regained consciousness. She groaned as she sat up, with Caleb's help.

"Jill," she muttered. "Jill didn't kill her."

Caleb and Chase exchanged a glance. "Jill didn't kill who?" Chase asked.

"Her best friend Genie," Lydia said, her mind growing clearer by the minute. "Jill didn't kill her, I know it. This has Horvath written all over it."

"Jill was framed for the killing of the Merlinian?" asked Chase.

Lydia nodded. "Then Jill had to flee and take this woman with her."

"What woman?" asked Caleb.

"I don't know her," Lydia said. "But she was the woman who was worried about you when you were poisoned. She was sat by your bed while Athena and Hippocrates treated you."

"Ambrosia?!" gasped Chase. "Jill took Ambrosia?!"

"Relax, she's fine," Lydia said. "They're both fine, I'm sure. Jill wouldn't hurt Ambrosia."

"Amy better be okay," muttered Chase darkly.

Then he saw that Lydia and Caleb were smiling at each other. Chase amusedly rolled his eyes and sidled away.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Caleb asked.

"My head is feeling a bit fuzzy," Lydia admitted. "My vision is a bit spotty too."

"Here, lean on me."

Caleb helped Lydia to her feet. The Merlinian put her arm over Caleb's shoulders, allowing the Westerner to support her.

"I think you should lie down in the infirmary for a while," Caleb suggested as they began slowly walking. "Even just until the next time we freeze."

"That's only in ten minutes or so," Lydia said, wincing. "You know, even though it's been several days, I'm still not used to it."

"Me neither," Caleb said. "But I don't think we have to get used to it just yet. We're going to be here for a very long time, after all."

"I guess so." Lydia paused. "I'm still nervous about it. It doesn't really affect me when it's actually happening, but in the lead-up to it, I feel kind of nervous about it."

"To be honest, me too," Caleb admitted. "But we've got a lifetime to get used to it."

At that moment, the sound of metal clanking behind them made them turn. Two knights whom Lydia recognised as Gawain and Percival were coming towards them, swords drawn.

"Lydia, we have orders to arrest you," Percival said as soon as the two pairs were within a few metres of each other.

"What?! Why?!" Caleb spluttered.

Lydia remained calm as she asked, "On what charges?"

"The assault of one of our knights," replied Gawain. "Look, we respect you, Lydia. We don't like doing this, but it's our duty. We have an eyewitness who swears they saw you assault the knight."

"When?" Caleb demanded.

"About fifteen minutes ago," Percival answered.

"What were you doing fifteen minutes ago?" Caleb asked Lydia. "You have to prove that you didn't do this!"

"I-I don't remember what I was doing fifteen minutes ago," Lydia confessed. "I remember that I was doing something but I can't remember exactly what it was. My consciousness wasn't properly awake until I woke up just now."

Gawain and Percival exchanged looks at this, a fact Caleb noticed.

"She has a wound on her head," Caleb said, pointing to Lydia's forehead. "She has an excuse as to why she can't remember what she was doing. She's hurt. Besides, why would she assault someone?"

"Most likely for the sword he had," Percival said coldly. "It's been stolen."

"What?" Lydia gasped. "Why was his sword stolen?"

"We don't know," replied Gawain. "Look, Lydia, our orders were to arrest you. Since all three of the most respected people in Camelot are missing, Lancelot makes the decisions, and you know how he feels about people hurting his knights."

Lydia nodded. "I do know."

"You can't just let them take you when you haven't done anything!" Caleb snapped.

"I don't have a choice," Lydia said sadly, looking up at Caleb. "If you truly care about me, you'll help me by finding out who really did do it."

As they gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, Caleb suddenly moved forwards and kissed Lydia on the lips. It only lasted perhaps a second or so, but it thoroughly surprised both Lydia and Caleb himself.

"I will help you," Caleb promised. "I really do care about you."

"I care about you too," Lydia said softly, as Percival and Gawain each took one of her arms. "Good luck."

"You too."

With that, the two knights led Lydia away, leaving Caleb behind with just the memory of their kiss to sustain him.

"I will help you," Caleb vowed. "I will not let you take the blame for this."


	28. Chapter 28

Julius glanced over the platform at Octavius, who was sitting on the other side. His cousin hadn't said a word in at least an hour, despite Julius's various attempts to entice him into conversation.

"Is everything okay?" Julius asked finally.

Octavius blinked and looked over at Julius. "I am fine. Why do you ask?"

"You haven't said anything in a while," Julius said. "You looked so deep in conversation. Everything's okay, right?"

"Everything is fine," Octavius said. "I was just thinking about what I can do for Athena to make our wedding very special."

"Aww," grinned Julius. "That's sweet of you. Have you got any ideas?"

"No," sighed Octavius. "That's the trouble. Athena is so special to me and I love her with all my heart. I want our wedding to be perfect, and yet I still can't think of anything that I can do to make Athena's wedding extra special."

He looked up and found Julius grinning at him. "What?"

"It's weird when you care," Julius chuckled.

Octavius frowned. "I'm going to need you to explain."

"Well, you're a hardened soldier, a general, who has seen a lot of death and has fought in more wars than me, Rufus, and Cassius combined. You're a natural leader who's always been unemotional and wise and calm. It's almost foreign when you show your caring side."

"I show my caring side all the time."

Julius scoffed. "Not to ME, you don't."

"Maybe that's because you don't deserve it," Octavius said, smirking.

Julius stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Octavius simply pointed over Julius's shoulder. The tribune turned and saw a rather sullen-looking Cassius standing a few metres away from him, holding a bundle that seemed to be squirming.

"Please take your child," snapped Cassius. "I cannot stand this much longer."

Julius's heart suddenly froze. "Wh-what?"

"Take your child!" Cassius repeated irritably.

"Y-you mean…Hestia?"

"Yes," snapped Cassius.

Julius got hurriedly up off the platform and hobbled without his cane towards Cassius, who held the bundle out towards him. Julius grabbed the child from Cassius and held her tenderly. He moved the cloth away from her face, revealing a one-year-old girl's green eyes and thin cheeks. Julius gazed into her face, unable to believe that she was here.

"Hestia…!" he whispered. "You're still so beautiful…"

He looked back up at Cassius, whose expression had not changed. "Have you had her all this time?"

"No, Artemis has," Cassius replied shortly.

"Oh." Julius looked round. "Where _is_ Artemis?"

"I don't know!" Cassius snapped. "What's with all the questions? I'm not expected to know where my wife is at every moment of every day."

Julius frowned, puzzled by Cassius's response. "Is everything-?"

At that moment, a flustered Rufus came running up to the group, looking out of breath. "Sorry to interrupt sir, but have you seen Artemis? She's been missing since yesterday."

Julius immediately turned to look at Cassius, who was staring down at the ground. "Did you know about this?"

Cassius didn't reply.

"Do you know something about this?" Julius tried again.

Cassius stayed silent.

Julius glared at him. "Legionary Cassius, I order you to tell me what you know about this."

Cassius looked sharply up at Julius.

"Do not disobey a tribune, Cassius," Rufus said wisely.

"I don't know anything about Artemis being missing," Cassius said quietly, hanging his head. "But…I did know that she was missing."

"What?" gasped Rufus.

"Why didn't you report it?" demanded Julius.

"I-I wanted to sort it out by myself," Cassius admitted. "I didn't want anyone else getting involved."

"But why?" Rufus demanded. "Artemis is my sister. I care about her too. I could have helped you."

Cassius shut his mouth and didn't say any more.

Julius sighed. "Rufus, go with Cassius and look for Artemis."

Cassius's head shot up. "That's not necess-."

"It's an order," Julius said sternly, narrowing his eyes at Cassius, who finally relented and allowed Rufus to take him away.

The distraction gone, Julius limped back to the platform, cooing at how cute asleep-Hestia was. Octavius smiled as Julius sat back down on the platform, gazing happily down at his adopted daughter.

"I didn't think she'd be here," Julius confessed. "I didn't dare hope. But apparently those exhibit-makers decided to make Hestia for me."

"I'm glad," Octavius said warmly.

Then Hestia's eyes opened and focused on Julius. "Daddy," she gurgled.

Julius's heart melted. "Hello sweetie."

"Daddy!" Hestia shrieked with glee, waving her arms at Julius.

Julius adjusted her position so that he was holding her under her arms. Then he threw her half a metre into the air and caught her again, causing her to giggle madly.

After a few minutes of doing this, Julius turned Hestia so that she could see Octavius, who was beaming. "Look, it's Uncle Octavius!"

"Uckle," babbled Hestia. "Uckle Tavia."

"Close," chuckled Octavius.

Julius sat down next to Octavius and bounced Hestia on his knee, turning to address his cousin. "Did you hear that Artemis is missing?"

"Yes," Octavius said solemnly. "We must pour as many resources as possible into finding her."

Julius paused. "I think Cassius is hiding something."

Octavius gave his cousin a sideways glance. "What makes you say that?"

"He said he knew about Artemis being missing. First of all: how? Second of all: if Cassius really loves his wife, which I believe he does, then he would have enlisted someone's help, even just Rufus's."

"You have a point," Octavius said. "Perhaps we should keep a close eye on Cassius."

" _You_ can." Julius stood up, retrieved his cane, and shifted Hestia to the crook of his arm. " _I'm_ going to spend the rest of the night with my little girl."

"We're freezing in exactly one minute," Octavius said.

"Fine, I'll go to my quarters so I can spend time playing with Hestia _tomorrow_ night."

Octavius grinned. "Goodbye, Julius."

Julius gave a backwards wave as he left.

Octavius looked away and frowned. There was something not right with the whole situation. Not right at all.

…

 **Mythicalnightguard created Hestia, I only came up with her name. Mythicalnightguard also owns Rufus.**


	29. Chapter 29

When Jill unfroze, she immediately checked for Ambrosia, and found the Greek woman sitting by the entrance, exactly where she had frozen. Jill hesitantly walked over to her. "Are you still mad at me?"

"I do not know," Ambrosia replied calmly. "Only time will tell but I do not think so."

"…okay."

Jill sat down next to Ambrosia and leant against the wall. "Oh man, I have a headache," she groaned, pressing her hand to her forehead. "Why do I have a headache?"

"Be thankful it's not a disease slowly rendering you mute," muttered Ambrosia.

Jill didn't react to that. "Ugh…how do I get rid of a headache without using magic?"

"Perhaps trephining," Ambrosia said darkly. "Not only will it relieve pressure, but drilling a hole into your head may be an improvement."

Jill shot a sideways glance at her. "Are you _sure_ you're not mad at me?"

"White willow bark is the best for masking pain," Ambrosia said, ignoring her. "Though feverfew is also good, it is mostly for preventing headaches or head pain from blossoming into migraines."

"How do you know that?" Jill frowned. "Aren't you a mathematician's apprentice?"

"Yes," Ambrosia replied sullenly, and this seemed to be all she intended to say on the subject.

Jill sighed and stood up. "If you're still mad at me, just say so."

"I just want to leave," Ambrosia said. "But I can't leave you alone up here. I'm waiting until you stop sulking enough to go down there and fix everything."

Jill frowned at approximately four of the things Ambrosia just said. "Okay, I have a few things to say to that. One: I told you that you can leave whenever you want. Two: you don't have to feel guilty about leaving me alone up here. Three, I'm not sulking. And four: why do you expect me to fix everything?"

"Because that's what people with powers do," Ambrosia replied. "People with power fix all the bad things so that we normal people can live our insignificant little lives in fear of the people with power who appear like they're fixing everything when in reality they just want to control us by appearing like they fix everything."

There was a pause.

"I have no idea how to respond to that," Jill said honestly.

"I wouldn't expect you to. You're just one of those people with power."

"You're speaking in contractions again," noted Jill.

Ambrosia shot Jill a death glare. Jill stood up, giving a short nervous laugh. "I think it's time to go."

Ambrosia also stood up. "Time to go?"

"Time to stop sulking and go down there and fix everything," Jill said.

The corner of Ambrosia's mouth turned upwards visibly. "Do you need my strength?"

"No, the tablet's provided me with enough overnight," Jill replied. "Or would that be overday?"

"Jill."

"Okay, sorry."

She held out her hand towards Jill, who took it and concentrated hard. Ambrosia suddenly felt very sick so she closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them again a few seconds later, she found herself in the Plaza, alone apart from Jill.

"I need to see Chase," Ambrosia said. "I want to make sure he is okay."

"Same with Galahad."

"Jill!" yelled a voice.

Jill spun round in alarm but relaxed when she saw Athena running across the Plaza towards them.

"Oh, Athena. Is everything okay?" asked Jill as the medic reached them.

"No," panted Athena. "That is what I came to tell you. It is Galahad. He has been assaulted."

"What?" gasped Jill in horror. "Where is he?!"

"He is in the infirmary in Rome," Athena replied. "With just myself to treat him. The Merlinians do not have a doctor, Chase is still recovering from his poison, and Hippocrates refused to help a Merlinian."

"Take me to him," ordered Jill.

Athena nodded and beckoned, before turning and running off in the direction she just came from. Jill picked up speed and followed. They ran all the way to Rome, where Jill found she had to hide her face for fear of people recognising her.

When they reached the infirmary, Athena led the way inside. There was nobody inside, apart from a frail-looking man lying on one of the beds. Jill let out a noise that was halfway between a gasp and a sob as she hurried past Athena and to the bed. As she gazed down at the beaten-up face of her fiancé, she stroked his check gently.

"Is he okay?" she demanded.

"There is no sign of internal bleeding," Athena reported. "No sign of organ damage. He has only been beaten around the face. This wound-." Here she pointed to a large black-and-blue bruise on his forehead. "-is what knocked him out. I can also deduce that it was the first wound he got."

Jill narrowed her eyes automatically as she felt anger surge through her entire body. Fighting to stay calm, she said, "So that means whoever did this hit him to knock him out and then continued to hurt him after he was down?"

Athena nodded sadly.

Gritting her teeth and balling her fists to prevent herself from saying or doing something she would regret, she managed to ask, "Have they caught who did it?"

"They have a suspect," Athena said carefully.

"Who?"

"A-a Merlinian by the name of Lydia."

Jill's whole world began to spin. She clutched the edge of the bed for stability as she tried to deal with what seemed like crippling vertigo. "There is no way Lydia did this," she said aloud.

Athena looked relieved. "I am glad you agree. I saw the woman as she was being arrested, and she did not seem like the kind of person to hurt an innocent man."

"Wait." Jill suddenly seized Athena's shoulders, causing the medic to lean back in alarm. "Did you say arrested?"

Athena nodded. "Y-yes. She was arrested yesterday by two knights."

"Percival and Gawain?" demanded Jill.

"I do not know their names."

Jill let go of Athena and stared back at Galahad, who was stirring in his bed. She quickly went back over to him and took his hand. "Hey," she said, smiling, as soon as his eyes opened and focused on her.

Galahad's face immediately lit up in a happy smile. "Jill."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like my face was just mashed up and put back together," Galahad replied.

"The first part is almost true," chuckled Jill. Then she became serious. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember someone talking about an incident involving you," Galahad recalled. "I'm sorry I didn't hear about it sooner."

"Oh, that's okay," soothed Jill. "Carry on."

"I was heading over there when I felt someone put their hand on my sword. I turned quickly and was immediately knocked out."

"Did you see your attacker's face?"

"No," Galahad admitted. "No details, at least. The only thing I could tell you for sure was that my assailant was male."

Jill's heart leapt. "Male?"

"Yes." Galahad frowned. "…why?"

"Because Lydia's been arrested for assaulting you," replied Jill.

Galahad's eyebrows raised. "Well, I can tell you for certain that it wasn't Lydia."

"Thank goodness," Jill breathed out. She smiled tenderly at her fiancé and ruffled his hair. "You should get some rest."

"Are you leaving?" asked Galahad, sounding both alarmed and reluctant.

"Not if you don't want me to," Jill replied, sitting in the chair beside his bed. She looked up at Athena. "It's okay if I stay, right?"

"Yes, stay as long as you wish," Athena replied. "I have a few things I need to do anyway."

As she walked away, Jill took Galahad's hand again, stroking the back of it with her thumb.

She continued the movement until Galahad fell asleep, fifteen minutes later.


	30. Chapter 30

Lydia hated to be a cliché, but at that moment, there was nothing else to do, so she was bouncing a ball against the wall and catching it again. She had had to specially ask for one, since her magic wouldn't work in this prison; this was a Merlinian prison which was designed not only for holding dangerous people, but dangerous sorcerers too. Lydia never dreamt that she would be one of those dangerous sorcerers.

She could feel the prison slowly affecting her mind, warping it. She kept calm and kept telling herself that she was innocent of the charges.

But it wasn't entirely working. There was something inside this prison that was affecting her mind. Maybe it was the fact that she was having to go without her powers for the first time in her life, but she felt like her brain was being crushed slowly underneath a pillar or something.

This pain in her head meant that she wasn't able to concentrate as much. The next time she threw the ball, her aim was off slightly, and instead of bouncing back to her hand, it hit the wall at an odd angle and bounced out of the cell. Lydia groaned and peered through the bars. It was too far away to grab, so she attempted to use some magic to bring it back to her cell, but this did two things: gave her a worse headache, and practically electrocuted her.

"Come on!" shouted Lydia angrily, hugging her sides. "Electrocution?! Seriously?!"

While she rubbed her sides and chest to let them recover from the electric shock, she saw the ball roll along the floor, through the bars and into her cell. Looking outside, she saw the weakly smiling face of Caleb, standing outside.

"Caleb!"

Lydia stood up hurriedly and clutched Caleb's hands through the bars. "Are you okay?" Caleb asked.

Lydia nodded. "Well, apart from the prison twisting my mind, trying to make me think myself guilty; and this unnecessary amount of pain every time I try to use even the tiniest levitation spell."

"They're not treating you well?"

Lydia sighed. "It's not so much the people. I haven't had the chance to talk to anyone since I arrived. There aren't any other inmates, after all." She eyed Caleb. "Wait a minute. How'd you get this visit? Lancelot would have to approve, and he now hates me because he thinks I assaulted his knight. He wouldn't approve a visit."

"He did," Caleb said. "Because your friend Jill came back and may or may not have used her magic to threaten him."

"Jill!" Lydia gasped. "Jill's back? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Caleb assured her. "Unfortunately, Lancelot now hates _her_ too."

"Jill…" Lydia sighed. "Why did she do that?"

"Maybe she thinks you deserve a visit in prison because you're not guilty," Caleb suggested. "Besides, I can update you on everything that's happened."

"Everything?"

"It's a small exhibit, compared to even a village at this size," Caleb said. "News travels at the speed of sound."

"Alright, what news do you have?"

"Well, you already know Jill and Ambrosia are back."

"Ambrosia?" repeated Lydia, frowning. "Is she the woman Jill took?"

"Yes, the Greek woman," Caleb confirmed. "The one Chase has feelings for."

"Have they reunited yet?" Lydia asked.

Caleb shook his head. "No. Hippocrates called her away to check on her, to make sure that what she went through hasn't worsened her illness in any way."

"Illness?"

"Ambrosia is a rare case of having an illness even as a museum exhibit. It's slowly making her mute."

"Poor Ambrosia," said Lydia sympathetically.

"Oh, wait!" Caleb suddenly jerked. "I forgot the most important news! Both Jill and I have gone to check on Galahad, and he's said that he remembers that his attacker was male. He knows you didn't do it!"

"That's great!" Lydia sighed in relief. "So I'm getting out of here?"

"We presented the evidence to Lancelot. Unfortunately, Lancelot thinks Galahad's memory is addled from his ordeal. He doesn't think what Galahad remembers is viable."

"Oh for heaven's sake," growled Lydia. "Why would I assault Galahad and take his sword?"

"Exactly," Caleb said. "Lancelot isn't thinking clearly. I wish I could pound some sense into him."

"Don't be too angry with him," Lydia said softly. "He really cares about his knights, and he's really worried about Galahad. The theft of a knight's sword is one of the worst things someone can do to a knight, just short of killing one. Besides…" Lydia lowered her voice. "There's a sword called Excalibur that's said to be the only thing that can raise a centuries-old sorceress named Morgana. It used to be King Arthur's, but he gave it to one of his knights. Nobody except Arthur knew which sword was Excalibur."

"So if the sword was stolen…" mused Caleb. "…that means that whoever stole the sword and assaulted Galahad must have thought that his sword was Excalibur."

"True," Lydia said. "Apparently, there's only one way to tell if a sword is Excalibur or not: normal swords sink in water whereas Excalibur floats. We'll have to ask Galahad if his sword has been in water recently and, if it has, ask him if anyone saw that."

"Are we eliminating certain people from the investigation?" Caleb asked. "You know, you, because we know you didn't do it. Me, because I don't even know him. Jill and Ambrosia, because they were AWOL when he was attacked. Like that?"

"I think at this point we should suspect anyone," Lydia said. "But like you say, we know it wasn't either of us, and Jill and Ambrosia _were_ missing at the time."

"Oi!" yelled a hard voice. "Your time is up!"

"I have to go," Caleb said regretfully. He squeezed Lydia's hands. "Stay sane. I'll be back soon."

"Not too soon," Lydia said, smiling weakly. "You have to figure out who did this, first."

"I will," Caleb promised. "I will, don't worry."

"I'm not worried."

Before they knew what was happening, their lips had met through the bars for the second time. This kiss lasted longer than their first one, despite their very limited time. When they eventually pulled away, both were smiling.

"Good luck," Lydia said.

Caleb nodded, smiled, and hurried away.

Lydia watched him go, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart at watching him leave. It wasn't easy to convince herself that him leaving was a good thing, but she kept telling herself that it was because he was going to find evidence to get her out of prison.

As she stepped backwards further into the cell, she felt the horrible feeling in her heart again.

 _Go away,_ she snapped in her head.

This time, it listened to her.

…

 **Nightflame203 owns Lydia and Caleb.**


	31. Chapter 31

Ambrosia hurried through the Plaza, on her way to the West to see Chase.

As she passed the border, she saw a familiar figure coming towards her. When the figure spotted Ambrosia, she let out a shriek of happiness and ran towards her. Ambrosia ran to meet her. When they met, Olympia grabbed Ambrosia in a tight hug.

"Where have you been?" she scolded. "I've been so worried! Someone said you'd been kidnapped!"

"I was…taken," Ambrosia said carefully. "Not kidnapped. I was allowed to leave."

"Oh, Ambrosia." Olympia stepped back from Ambrosia and eyed her. "I can't believe you're okay. I thought you were dead."

"I'm okay, honestly," smiled Ambrosia. How's everything been here?"

"Besides the fact I've been frantically searching for you since yesterday?" Olympia scowled. Ambrosia shrugged. "Not bad. I met a cute Roman guy."

"Really?" Ambrosia felt her heart rate accelerate, as it would when anyone's sister told them they met a cute guy. "Who?"

"I don't know if you know him, but his name is Julius."

"Julius?!" gasped Ambrosia. "The one with the bad leg?"

"That's him." Olympia sighed dreamily. "He's cute."

"He's argumentative, cheeky, and uncooperative."

"He's cute," Olympia said again. "He offered to help me look for you when nobody else did. I had to ASK people for help, and they still said no. Julius offered. He was such a gentleman about it."

"Someone has a cru-ush," sang Ambrosia gleefully.

"Yeah," sighed Olympia happily. "I don't even mind."

"Okay." Ambrosia clapped once. "Good talk. If you don't mind, I need to go find Chase."

"Sure, go ahead," Olympia said. She squeezed Ambrosia once more before stepping back and allowing Ambrosia to pass.

Ambrosia went straight to the West, where she found a girl standing guard in front of a cabin building that had a star on it that said "sheriff". Ambrosia didn't really like talking to strange people, but the girl was the only person around, so Ambrosia awkwardly shuffled up to her. "Um, excuse me?"

"Who are you?" demanded the girl.

"I'm Ambrosia," Ambrosia replied. "I'm looking for Chase."

"Ah, yer Ambrosia." The girl smiled. "I'm Nikki. Chase is my brother. He's currently in the infirmary."

"He is okay, right?" Ambrosia suddenly felt a pang of worry.

"He's a doctor," Nikki grinned. "Of course he's in the infirmary."

"Oh." Ambrosia breathed out in relief. "Thank you."

"Do ya know where the infirmary is?"

"Yes, thank you." Ambrosia gave Nikki a smile. "Thank you for your help."

As Ambrosia headed off, Nikki called after her, "Do ya love my brother?"

Ambrosia turned in surprise. "Sorry?"

"Chase." Nikki folded her arms and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Do ya love him?"

Ambrosia hesitated. "It is…I do not know. I think I do, but I do not know for certain."

"Well, _he_ loves _ya_ ," Nikki said. "And I don' wanna see 'im get hurt."

"Trust me," Ambrosia said earnestly. "Hurting Chase is the last thing I want to do."

Nikki nodded, satisfied.

Ambrosia turned and walked away in the direction of the infirmary, thinking about what Nikki had said. Apparently, Chase had confided in his sister about Ambrosia, seeing as Nikki knew that Chase loved her. And that was another thing: Chase loved Ambrosia, whereas the latter really had no idea how she felt about the former.

When she reached the infirmary, she knocked on the closed door. After a few seconds waiting, the door opened, revealing…

"Chase!"

Chase's face broke into an excited beam. "Amy!"

Chase picked Ambrosia up and swung her around happily. As he put her down, he invited Ambrosia to walk with him, so she did. The two of them began wandering in the direction of the Plaza.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked.

"I am fine," Ambrosia replied. "Yourself?"

"The poison's completely gone," Chase reported happily. "But don't change the subject. Why did Jill take you?"

"She needed someone's strength to teleport herself away so she picked me."

Chase scowled. "Why?"

"I do not know." Ambrosia folded her arms. "But I definitely let her know I was not happy about it, believe me."

"I believe you," Chase grinned. "So where did you two go?"

"In a cave in the mountain," Ambrosia replied. "It was quite cold up there. But…I may have had a rather heated yell towards Jill."

"Ah." Chase paused. "Did it make you feel better?"

"A little," admitted Ambrosia. "But it makes me feel a lot better now that I am back with you."

Chase smiled and brought Ambrosia into a tight hug. "I-I love you, Ambrosia."

"I love you too."

This was the moment Ambrosia had been dreading. She had never been in love before, and she had never even been in a serious relationship before. She often didn't know how to react to intimacy. She had been terrified that when, or even if, Chase said he loved her, she wouldn't say it back. She had been terrified she wouldn't even know how to respond to it. And yet somehow…as soon as Chase had said it, Ambrosia had automatically said it back. That surely proved it: Ambrosia truly loved Chase.

Chase's whole face lit up. "Really?"

"Really." Ambrosia beamed. "I have true feelings for you. I wish to be with nobody else."

"I don't wanna be with anyone else either."

Ambrosia put her arms around Chase's shoulders and smiled up at him. Chase put his own arms over Ambrosia's shoulders and gazed into her blue eyes. He had done this many times before, but only now was he noticing the sparkle in them. Similarly, Ambrosia was seeing the stars in Chase's own green eyes.

"We have just confessed our love for each other," Ambrosia said quietly. "And yet, we have not kissed."

A playful grin appeared on Chase's face. "Let's fix that."

Like a gentleman, Chase intended to wait until Ambrosia had time to process what he had just said before he made a move, but he was surprised when Ambrosia used this pause against him and leant in until their lips touched.

Their kiss was sweet and loving. Not only was it their first kiss, but it also basically formalised their relationship. From now on, Chase and Ambrosia were officially a couple. And they were never going to be apart.

When they finally broke apart, they both immediately embraced, as if reading each other's minds.

"I love you," Ambrosia murmured, knowing she would never become tired of saying that.

"I love you too," Chase beamed.

They stayed in the embrace for a few seconds longer, before, Chase realised that Ambrosia had gone slack in his grip. He pulled away in confusion, causing Ambrosia to collapse to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Amy!"

Chase immediately rolled her onto her back, trying to keep calm. She wasn't struggling for oxygen like in her previous attacks. She was just lying there, limp. And this was what scared Chase the most. Her pulse was weak, her heartbeat was barely there, and her breathing was so slow that Chase had to check three times to make sure it was there.

Picking Ambrosia up, Chase began to struggle in the direction of the infirmary.


	32. Chapter 32

"I am afraid I have never seen anything like this," Athena said apologetically. "I am sure even my mentor Lucius would not know what to do either. I am sorry that I could not be of more help."

"It's alright," Chase said, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Thanks anyway, Athena."

Athena gave Chase a sympathetic smile, before heading towards the infirmary door. On her way through, she passed a rather serious-looking young man coming through. Both of them recognising a fellow medic, they gave each other a respectful nod.

"Someone said Ambrosia was here," the young man said.

Chase nodded. "I need medics or doctors to help me determine what's wrong with her. Are you a medical professional?"

"I would not be here if I was a philosopher," said the young man dryly. "My name is Nicomedes. I am Hippocrates's apprentice."

"Imma call ya Nico," Chase decided. "That okay?"

Nico blinked. "Uh…sure. Anyway, what is wrong with Ambrosia?"

As Nico came closer, Chase briefly outlined Ambrosia's illness. "Then when we were out earlier, she just collapsed," Chase finished. "Is there anything you can do?"

Nico thoughtfully took Ambrosia's wrist and held it up with his forefinger, middle finger, and thumb as if he was taking her pulse. "Which herbs have you tried?" he asked.

"Everything your mentor and Athena told me to," Chase replied. "Hippocrates wrote a list for me." Chase fetched this list from the sideboard and gave it to Nico, who scanned it briefly.

"Emerald Thorn is not on here," Nico said.

"Emerald what?"

"Emerald Thorn. It is a plant that is distinctive because of its very bright green colour and thorns all over its stem. The leaves are always very large, which allows them an enormous rate of photosynthesis, causing them to release almost three times more oxygen than a normal plant. If Ambrosia's disease is depraving her windpipe and lungs of enough oxygen to function properly, a medicine made up of crushed Emerald Thorn leaves could relieve some of that depravation."

Chase nodded quickly. "Do you have any of those leaves?"

"I do not know," Nico replied, letting Ambrosia's wrist drop. "But I will check."

"Check with Athena too," Chase added as Nico headed to the exit. "She may have some."

"Greeks and Romans share the same medicine and herbs store nowadays," Nico said. "If there are none in there, there are probably not going to be any in the entire exhibit."

"Alright, thanks."

Chase watched as Nico left the room. A moment later, a groan brought his attention around to the bed. Ambrosia was stirring. Chase quickly went back round to the side of the bed and tenderly took Ambrosia's hand as her eyes opened.

"Say something," he said nervously, in case she had already become mute.

"Was that Nico I just heard?" croaked Ambrosia, her voice noticeably quieter than before.

"Yeah. You know him?"

"He was my childhood friend," Ambrosia replied. "We were both interested in the same thing."

"What: fashion?" joked Chase.

Ambrosia chuckled weakly. "No." She tried to sit up and immediately winced. "What happened?"

"You collapsed," Chase told her. "I brought you here. Nobody knows what's happened to you."

"It is probably my illness," Ambrosia sighed, lying back down in the bed.

"It must suck," said Chase sympathetically.

"It is not the worst thing I have ever been through."

This surprised Chase. "Really?"

"Yes." Ambrosia hesitated. "Chase, before I become mute, there's something I need to tell you. Something horrible I did in my past."

Chase frowned. "Okay."

"You know how I'm Archimedes's apprentice?"

Chase nodded. "The mathematician guy."

"Yes. Well…when I was younger, I used to be Hippocrates's apprentice."

Chase stared at her. "Wait, what?!"

"I can prove it." Ambrosia eyed Chase. "I bet either Athena or Nico told you that the best remedy for my illness is Emerald Thorn, which has a large rate of photosynthesis and may be able to cure my lungs' and windpipe's oxygen deprivation."

Chase blinked. "O-okay. Carry on."

"I learnt a lot," continued Ambrosia. "And I loved the work. Hippocrates was a tough mentor but he was great at teaching me.

"But then…one day, a very sick patient was admitted. He was dying. I did everything as Hippocrates told me to do, and he got better. I felt proud of myself. Too proud. When Hippocrates went out the next day, I decided to experiment and give the patient something that I thought would cure his illness completely. It…it had the opposite effect."

Chase looked stricken. "He-he died?"

Ambrosia nodded sadly, blinking to stop tears from coming into her eyes. "The worst part was what Hippocrates told me afterwards: if I had not tried to experiment, the patient would most likely have completely recovered from his illness."

"That's horrible," said Chase sympathetically.

"I quit as Hippocrates's apprentice," Ambrosia finished. "Now, every time I use my medical knowledge for something, I feel just as horrible as the day it happened. I killed someone, Chase. It was all my fault he died."

Chase bowed his head sombrely.

Ambrosia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said, "What's the worst thing _you've_ ever gone through?"

"Well, that's hard." Chase thought for a moment. "I've had a hard life. It wasn't when Bennett killed me. It wasn't when I saw my parents shot and killed right in front of me and my sister. It wasn't when I was kicked in the chest by a boot that had its spurs down and got scarred."

"What?!" gasped Ambrosia.

Chase lifted his shirt to reveal a circular-shaped mark in the centre of his chest, just over where his heart was.

"That's awful," Ambrosia whispered.

"That wasn't the worst thing I've ever experienced." Chase took a deep breath. "It was when my parents' killer abducted my sister, Nikki."

"Wh-what?" gasped Ambrosia again.

"We were about thirteen," Chase recalled. "Playing in the dust. Pretending to be in a shootout. Then this guy came running up to us, kicked me in the chest with his spurred boot, grabbed Nikki, and ran off. I recognised him as our parents' killer."

"You found Nikki though, right?"

"I couldn't," Chase replied. "I was only thirteen. I wasn't allowed to look for her. I just had to wait for five excruciatingly painful weeks while Jed searched for the only family I had left. I can't put into words the relief I felt when Jed told me she'd been found."

"At least it had a happy ending," offered Ambrosia.

"Yeah, but when I was training to be a doctor, a man came to us in a critical condition. It was him."

"No…!" Ambrosia gasped. "The killer and kidnapper?"

"That's the one. I wanted to refuse to help him, to just let him die. There was just one problem: the code of a doctor is to help anyone and everyone, regardless of age, gender, race, or past personal experiences."

"Oh…"

"Exactly," Chase sighed.

"So…what happened to him?" Ambrosia asked.

Chase grinned. "That, my dear, is a story for another day."

Ambrosia groaned, but before she could voice her disappointment, Nico returned, clutching two giant emerald-green leaves.

"I found the Emerald Thorn leaves," Nico said, rather unnecessarily in Chase's opinion.

"Hello Nico." Ambrosia smiled weakly.

"Hello Ambrosia. Killed anyone with the wrong medicine lately?"

"Hey!" snapped Chase.

But Ambrosia just grinned. "I see your ego is just as inflated as ever, Nico. Maybe you should ask Hippocrates for a new head to accommodate it."

Chase blinked as Nico gently punched Ambrosia on the shoulder. "Alright, I'm confused."

"We insult each other daily," explained Nico.

"We both agreed long ago that we would not get offended by anything the other says," said Ambrosia. "Because we would know that the other does not really mean it. Although," she added, with a frown towards Nico. "That comment about the wrong medicine was fairly harsh. You have never used that one before."

"Oh. Too harsh? Got it." Nico tapped his head. "I will remember that." He paused as he watched Chase begin to crush up the leaves. "Do I really have a big ego?"

"What did we say about not getting offended?" giggled Ambrosia. "It doesn't matter, does it?"

"Oh…" Nico frowned. "Sorry, what?"

"You should probably go back to Hippocrates now," Chase interrupted. "I need to administer the medicine."

"Okay." Nico gave a mock salute to Ambrosia, who giggled again. "I will come by later and see how you are doing."

"Okay," said Ambrosia, waving goodbye as Nico left.

"I like him," commented Chase as he brought the medicine over to Ambrosia. "Anyway, time to take your medicine."

Ambrosia smiled. "Thank you for taking such good care of me," she said.

"I love you, Ambrosia." Chase matched her smile. "I would do anything for you."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

…

 **Author's Note: I made up the plant Emerald Thorn. I couldn't think of any real plants that could take its place.**


	33. Chapter 33

"Your hair has blue tips," Galahad commented from his bed.

Jill grasped a few strands and brought them round to look at them. "Huh." It was true: about five centimetres at the bottom of her long blonde hair had turned royal blue.

"How'd that happen?" Galahad asked.

"I heard that if a sorcerer's hair starts changing colour, it's because they're growing more powerful," Jill said, feeling a twinge of excitement. "I wonder if this is unlocking any new magical abilities?"

"Maybe," smiled Galahad.

"Okay, it is time for Galahad to get some rest," Athena said, coming over to the bed.

"Does he have to rest?" whined Jill like a little girl.

"If he wants to be back on his feet by tomorrow, yes" Athena said mock-sternly.

Jill pretended to pout. "Alright." She smiled at Galahad and patted his shoulder. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

All of a sudden, there was a sudden crash from outside, one that rocked the whole exhibit. Athena gasped in fright and clutched a table for support, while Jill failed to keep her balance and tumbled to the floor.

"What was that?!" she gasped as she clambered to her feet.

Then Octavius appeared in the doorway, looking like he'd just fallen over. "Is everybody okay?"

"Octavius!" gasped Athena. "What was that?"

"Jill, you may want to come outside," Octavius said, instead of answering the question. "We may need you."

Frightened, Jill ran to the door and followed Octavius outside.

Standing in the middle of the square was King Arthur, a magical glow around him. He was throwing fireballs everywhere while civilians scattered in terror.

As Jill gaped in horror, Octavius said, "We cannot get Lydia out of the prison, and nobody else is a match for a sorcerer. You are our only hope, Jill."

Jill's face settled into a look of determination. "I will do my best." She turned to face Octavius. "Round up some Romans and get the civilians out of the way."

Octavius nodded and hurried away.

Jill ran as fast as she could towards the square, where she threw a fireball of her own at Arthur, who apparently sensed it coming and dodged rather spectacularly. The two stood opposite each other, lowered in fighting stances, sizing each other up.

"Arthur," Jill said firmly. "You must stop this now."

"I don't have to do anything you say," Arthur growled back. "I am your king!"

"You are not my king," Jill snarled. "You are not the king I have been following my whole life. King Arthur may be a sorcerer, but he is definitely not evil."

Jill then threw a fireball at Arthur, who waved it away with a flick of his hand. Then out of Arthur's hands came a beam of energy. Jill raised a shield to protect herself from it, but the force was more than she had anticipated. She couldn't attack back. It was all she could do just to hold the shield.

A little way away, Artemis, Julius, and Olympia were standing together by a fountain, watching the battle.

"We have to help Jill!" Julius said.

"In case you forgot, we are the three people who can do the _least_ to help," Olympia said. "Your cousin made that pretty clear."

"Look at her!" Julius insisted. "Octavius and the others are too busy getting civilians out. Jill's struggling!"

"But what can two women with no fighting skills and a crippled tribune do?" Artemis asked.

Before anyone could answer, they spotted Octavius on the other side of the square. The general had seen that Jill needed help, and was now running to help. He attacked with his sword, but Arthur simply blasted him in the chest with a ray of energy. Octavius's sword went flying as the Roman general was sent tumbling backwards by the force.

"Octavius!" yelled Julius, hurrying towards his cousin.

"He has armour!" Artemis yelled after him. "Julius, come back!"

However, the momentary distraction that Octavius had provided allowed Jill to use her shield to emit a powerful beam of her own, one that knocked Arthur off his feet. The king immediately sent a blast back towards Jill, who dodged. The beam continued flying and would have hit a civilian man had Caleb not appeared out of nowhere and tackled him out the way.

As the two angrily fought, there was beams and debris flying everywhere. Octavius and his small team worked very efficiently as they took civilians to safety.

As Octavius struggled to lift a large stone off a Merlinian woman, he was suddenly joined by someone he had told to go to safety.

"Julius!" snapped Octavius, glaring sideways at the tribune, who was straining to help him lift the stone. "I told you to leave! Why did you not listen to me?!"

"In my defence, I never listen to you," Julius replied, shrugging.

But with their combined efforts, they managed to lift the stone off the woman, who crawled out of the way.

"Julius, go!" yelled Octavius as he used his sword to slash a flying piece of debris out of the way.

"I'm not leaving you," Julius said firmly. "You're my cousin and I need to stay to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"What?!" Octavius stared at his cousin in disbelief. " _You_ are the one most likely to do something stupid!"

Julius raised his eyebrows and was about to make a comment back when Octavius saw something that made his heart freeze. He yelled Julius's name, charging at his cousin and knocking him out the way just as a stray fireball flew past. It hit the building behind them, causing debris to fall and cover the two Romans, knocking them out.

Jill used a shockwave to bring down a part of the tower of the castle in front of them. It fell down and nearly hit King Arthur, before he managed to blast it to pieces.

Then without warning he shot several fireballs in rapid succession at Jill, who managed block the majority of them. However, one of them caught her shoulder and caused pain to fly through her entire body. Her body slackened. Takin advantage of this, Arthur shot an energy blast at Jill, which hit her stomach and sent her flying into a building. Through her blurry vision, she saw Arthur flying to attack her again.

That was the last thing she saw before she froze.


	34. Chapter 34

Jill gasped as her body came back to life. She was in exactly the same position as when she froze. In front of her, she saw Arthur in the same position as he was in before he froze, lunging to attack. No sooner had she registered this than Arthur also came back to life, but since he was in an off-balanced position, he immediately tumbled to the ground and hit his head on a piece of debris. Jill leapt up instinctively and used a spell to hold him down magically.

On the other side of the square, a recently unfrozen Portia was trying desperately to get some of the debris off the still-unconscious Octavius and Julius. She was soon joined by Cassius, and together they managed to free the two Romans.

Arthur struggled to get up but Jill kept pinning him down. "Olympia! Rufus! Hold him down!"

The Greek woman and the Roman legionary heard her orders and raced to comply. They both went on either side of Arthur and held him firmly down. Jill tentatively stopped the force holding Arthur down, and, when she was sure Olympia and Rufus's combined strength was enough to hold him down, began a new spell. She hoped she remembered it the way Balthazar taught her.

Holding her arms to the sky, she said the spell in Latin: "Qui habetur. Iustus es et liberos. Qui non habent. Reus es et iterum nusquam possit. Talibus vinculis liberavit, et ponam civitatem hanc et migrare vos qui daemonium."

Rufus frowned as his Roman mind automatically translated the Latin incantation, but before he could comment on it, the fight seemed to leave Arthur's body. Rufus and Olympia exchanged a look before loosening their holds slightly. Arthur did not move, so they both moved back slightly.

Across from them, Jill fell to her knees, her energy spent. As she tried to recover enough energy to stand, Rufus came over to her and knelt down next to her. "Why did that work?" he asked.

Jill looked at him. "Sorry?" she said breathlessly.

"That incantation was for banishing a demon," Rufus elaborated. "Or at least the last part was. "With these words, I make the prisoner free again and I exile the demon who took this freedom from you"."

"The word demon is relative," Jill explained. "It could mean a literal demon or it could just mean a really bad person."

"Oh."

Just then, Athena came hurrying out of the hospital. She skidded to a halt beside Arthur and hesitated, her face creased in a worried frown. Jill saw her struggle: she was clearly heading to go check on Octavius and Julius, but she saw that Arthur needed medical help too.

"Go," Jill said quietly. "He's fine."

Athena briefly nodded her thanks before continuing on.

Almost as soon as she had gone, a different medic came running up. Jill could tell he was a medic because he immediately knelt down beside Arthur and began checking things only a medic would know and know how to check.

"Oh, Nico," gasped Olympia. "Is he okay?"

Nico nodded. "Whatever was inside him, it's gone now. He'll wake up soon."

As if on cue, Arthur stirred and his eyes opened. Nico stood up and left without another word.

"My king?" said Jill hesitantly.

His eyes focused on her. "Jill?"

"How do you feel?" Jill asked.

Arthur frowned. "I don't remember the last few days. What happened?"

While Jill got Arthur up to speed, Athena was examining her fiancé and his cousin. The latter had a shard of glass buried in his shoulder. The former was the first to wake up, just as Athena was treating this. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his fiancée. He smiled. "Athena."

The medic's face also broke into a smile. "Octavius."

He turned his head to the left and caught sight of Julius, who was still unconscious. "Julius…!" he gasped, trying to sit up.

Athena placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him back down. "Easy, Octavius. You need to rest. Do not worry, Julius is fine."

"He is fine?"

Athena nodded. "He should wake up soon."

"Good." Octavius's facial expression darkened. "Then I can beat some sense into him."

"Octavius!" Athena seemed shocked.

"What else can I do?" Octavius asked her, exasperated. "He does not listen to me! I told him to go to safety, and he did not listen! He put himself in danger and now he has a glass shard stuck in his shoulder!" Octavius paused as he fully digested this information. "Wait…Athena!"

"I am treating it now," Athena said, anticipating what he was going to say. "Do not worry."

Meanwhile, Jill was finally listening to what King Arthur had to say.

"I was in the meeting," Arthur recalled. "My vision went black and then I passed out, quite suddenly. I don't remember anything after that, until I woke up and I was in a cage."

"Where?" asked Jill.

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know. It didn't seem like a very big room, so it could've been anywhere. I do know it wasn't in my castle, though." He paused and sighed. "Anyway, Horvath was there."

Jill let out a hiss. "Horvath," she repeated disgustedly.

"He didn't tell me what I had done, but he did say he needed someone to attack three Merlinians."

"Me, Veronica, and Genie," realised Jill, feeling a sharp sting of sadness at the mention of her deceased best friend.

"He said that it was you three," sighed Arthur. "He wanted me to kill one of you, kidnap another of you, and frame the last one."

"That's exactly what happened," Jill said sadly. "Horvath killed Genie, kidnapped Veronica, and I was framed for both of them."

"G-Genie?" gasped Arthur, devastated. "Genie was killed?"

Jill nodded, remembering that Genie was Arthur's granddaughter.

"Oh…" Arthur cleared his throat and looked up at Jill. "It-it's all my fault…"

"No it isn't," said Jill fiercely. "It's Horvath's. He's the one who killed Genie. Not you. You refused." She frowned. "Wait, if you were being mind-controlled by Horvath, then how did you refuse?"

"My mind can be very stubborn when it wants to," Arthur said with a weak smile.

Jill matched his smile and then stood up. "Rufus, Olympia, please take Arthur to the hospital."

The two began to carry out her orders as Jill made her way over to Octavius, Athena, and Julius.

"Did you ask King Arthur how he was able to use magic?" asked Octavius.

Jill shook her head. "I decided to save that for later. He's still in a delicate condition."

"Fair enough," Athena said.

Jill frowned, deep in thought. "There's something I'm worried about," she confessed. "I mean, I was framed and had to flee, Lydia's been arrested, Balthazar and Veronica were taken, and Genie was killed. What do you think that means?"

"Someone badly wanted the sorcerers out of the way," Athena said.

Jill nodded and sighed. "I know it must be Horvath who did it. And he also must have been the one to attack Galahad and steal the sword. He needs Excalibur to raise Morgana. I just wish I knew where he is and when he plans to raise her."

…

 **Author's Note: the exorcism incantation is one I made up. I used google translate for it, so it's not a very good translation.**


	35. Chapter 35

Julius groaned as he woke up. The first thing he saw was the by-now very familiar face of Athena, the medic.

"I'm dead," was the first thing he said.

"You are being dramatic," Athena reproached. "You are not dead."

"I can't feel my arm," Julius said, panicking. "I can't feel my arm!"

"Neither do you have a crippled arm to go with your crippled leg," Athena added amusedly.

"Yet," muttered Octavius's voice darkly.

Julius frowned and turned to look at his cousin, but before he could properly see Octavius, he felt a very hard punch to his shoulder, causing him to actually scream in pain.

"Octavius!" snapped Athena's voice. "Control yourself!"

Julius winced as he rubbed his dead arm. "Agh…NOW I have a crippled arm."

"When are you going to start listening to me?!" Octavius's harsh voice demanded. "I told you to go to safety and you disobeyed me! You're lucky you _didn't_ end up with a crippled arm!"

"In my defence-."

"No!" yelled Octavius, making Julius flinch. "You are not worming your way out of this one! If you continue to disobey my orders, you are one day going to get either me or yourself or someone else killed!"

Julius bit his lip as he looked into his furious cousin's face. "I-I'm really sorry, Octavius."

"Next time, just do as I say!" Octavius bellowed, before standing and storming out.

"I will talk to him," Athena said sympathetically.

Julius closed his eyes and listened to her footsteps as they grew quieter. He lay back in his bed and tried not to cry. Nothing ever made Julius cry, except when his cousin was mad with him. After all, ever since Julius was a child, he had constantly been cheeky and disobedient towards Octavius, but the general hadn't seemed to really be affected by it until now. He got exasperated with Julius, sure, but he had never yelled at Julius like that before. In fact, he had never yelled at Julius, period. Shouted, perhaps. Raised his voice, yes. But yelled? No. Looking into Octavius's angry and disappointed eyes had been like getting struck in the heart by a razor-sharp icicle that had spread its cold all over his body. What made it worse was that Julius owed everything to Octavius: his position, his life, his status. And Julius had been nothing but a source of aggravation for Octavius. He loved Octavius deeply. It was like the general was his older brother and father all in one. Maybe it would be better if Julius wasn't in his cousin's life anymore. It would certainly be a lot less painful for Octavius. After all, the last thing Julius wanted was to cause his cousin pain.

Thinking this, Julius swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, without his cane. He manged to hobble over to the door and look out. It was fairly dark outside, as if it were twilight.

Making sure nobody could see him, Julius hobbled away from the hospital. He kept going until he reached the edge of the exhibit, which looked like the edge of the world.

"But that's exactly what it is," Julius said bleakly aloud. "This is our world. It's tiny. It's miniature. It just shows how empty and meaningless life is. What is our purpose? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nobody would care if I just jumped. I'm flesh and blood. I would die. But I don't care. Octavius hates me. It would be better if I wasn't in his life. All I do is cause him pain. I'm not worth anything alive, not with this leg. I-I don't deserve anything."

Julius sat down on the edge of the exhibit and dangled his legs over the side, trying to work up the courage to slide himself off.

He was about two seconds away from doing it when a voice behind him said, "Julius, hey!"

Julius turned his head and saw a familiar Roman woman standing there. "P-Portia?"

The woman smiled at him. "I've been looking for you. Artemis left your child with me a while ago."

Julius's heart skipped a beat as he saw the child Portia was holding and heard the infant crying.

"I couldn't get her to stop crying," Portia said apologetically, holding the baby out to him. "I'm sorry."

Julius got awkwardly to his feet and hurried forwards. He took Hestia from Portia and rocked the child gently.

"Shh, shh," he whispered. "It's okay, sweetie. Daddy's here. Daddy's got you."

Hestia's eyes opened and focused on her father. Her little face broke out into the cutest happy look that Julius had ever seen, and she began babbling happily. "Dadda!" she gurgled, waving her arms. "Dadda!"

Julius felt both shame and love surge through his heart. He glanced back at the edge of the exhibit and wondered how on Earth he could have been so stupid and selfish. He had been about to kill himself! That would leave poor Hestia without anyone in the world. Her biological parents were dead. How could he have been such an idiot as to think that nobody needed or loved him? Surely it was proof enough that Hestia had been crying for hours and had only stopped when Julius held her? Hestia needed Julius, and Julius realised that he needed Hestia. The little baby gave him purpose, if nothing else did. He could never leave Hestia.

"Looks like you've cheered her up," Portia said, smiling at the sweet scene in front of her.

"I think it's the other way around," Julius said, tickling Hestia's cheek and smiling when she giggled. He looked back up at Portia. "Thank you, Portia. You've helped me more than you know."

Looking slightly baffled, Portia gave a smile and walked away.

Rocking Hestia gently and singing a lullaby to her, Julius began to hobble back to the hospital.

A little way away, a lone legionary watched him go. Unbeknownst to Julius, Rufus had seen and heard everything. His face creased in a frown as he recalled the haunting things he had heard Julius say. He knew he needed to talk to Octavius about Julius. The general needed to know how close his cousin had come to throwing himself off the edge of the exhibit.

The general needed to know how close his cousin was to cracking under such tremendous mental strain.


	36. Chapter 36

Jill sat down on the steps of King Arthur's palace, next to Arthur himself, who was staring miserably at the ground.

"I just can't bring myself to believe that Genie is gone," Arthur said dully after a while. "I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"She died in my arms," Jill said quietly. "She died knowing that she was loved. We couldn't have asked for any more."

Arthur nodded. "I know."

He looked sideways at Jill, who was looking upwards. "There's something I think you should know," he said.

Jill frowned, feeling worried all of a sudden. "Yes?"

Arthur took a deep breath. "Before you were born, Veronica wasn't in love with Balthazar. She loved and was married to someone else: Merlin."

"I knew that," Jill said, frowning, but Arthur put up his index finger, silencing her.

"They had a child together, but soon after, Merlin was presumed dead while stopping a tsunami from hitting Camelot."

"That's like-," Jill began, before being silenced again by Arthur. She had been about to say _"that's like how I died"._

Veronica was so devastated that she became catatonic. She wouldn't eat, drink, sleep, talk, or do anything besides lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling. So this baby was given to a childless couple who raised the baby like their own until they died as a result of a fire in their house."

 _Just like my parents,_ Jill thought sadly.

"But by then, the baby had grown into a young teenager who desperately wanted to train in the art of magic. Balthazar, who was one of Merlin's three apprentices—along with Veronica and Horvath—decided to help her fulfil this."

Jill frowned. _This story is beginning to sound familiar. Too familiar._

"Soon after the child began training, Balthazar and Veronica fell in love, got married, and had a child together."

"Genie?" Jill asked.

Arthur nodded. "Veronica thought that Merlin was never coming back, but he did. He came back just after his child turned eighteen. They both mutually agreed to never tell the child that she was theirs. They let her believe she was an orphan, so she continued believing that." Arthur paused. "Until today, when King Arthur told his granddaughter the truth."

Jill stared at Arthur. "Y-you mean…"

"You are the child, Jill. You are the daughter of Veronica and Merlin, my granddaughter."

"I-I knew some parts of that story were familiar!" Jill gasped, feeling nauseous as she stood up sharply, her head spinning as her brain tried to process the hundred and one things that this revelation meant. "S-so…I'm Lydia's sister?"

"She's your half-sister," Arthur corrected. "She was born when Merlin was presumed dead. It turned out that he found himself in a lost village somewhere, being tended to. He stayed there for eighteen years, during which time he fell in love again, this time with a woman named Tameka, and had Lydia with her. He brought her back with him when he returned to Camelot."

"So that's where I got my magic from," Jill realised. "Merlin. He's a sorcerer and he's my father, so that's how I got magic."

Arthur nodded. "But you are extra powerful because you have three powerful sorcerers in the family."

"Merlin, Veronica, and you," Jill guessed.

Arthur nodded again. "Veronica got her power from me. You are the daughter of two sorcerers and the granddaughter of a third."

"So Veronica's mother is…?"

"Her name was Lucy," Arthur said wistfully. "She was beautiful. I intended to make her my queen, but she…she died from an unknown illness."

"I'm sorry," said Jill sympathetically.

"Veronica was illegitimate," Arthur said pointedly, looking at Jill. "Do you know what that means?"

Jill shook her head.

"If a son or daughter of the king or queen's is illegitimate, the throne cannot pass to them. If the illegitimate child has a legitimate child of their own, they inherit the throne."

"Wait a minute." Jill closed her eyes and tried to comprehend this. "NOW you're saying that…?"

"You're a princess," said Arthur patiently. "And the future ruler of Camelot."

"Okay…" Jill bent over, feeling another wave of nausea hit her. "I think…I think I might be sick."

"I know it's a lot to take in," Arthur said. "But you don't have to comprehend it all at once."

Jill straightened up and forced the nausea down. "Tell me one thing: where is Merlin?"

Arthur blinked. "Sorry?"

"Where is he?" Jill demanded. "Why isn't he here?"

"An exhibit wasn't made for him," Arthur replied sadly. "Apparently, historians are unsure that he ever actually existed."

"So they managed to make two of Merlin's children and his former wife but not he himself?" Jill scoffed. "That's stupid."

"Yeah it is," Arthur agreed. "But that's just how it turned out."

Jill suddenly stared at Arthur in panic. "B-but…this means that we can't defeat Morgana!"

"What?"

"The prophecy!" Jill waved her hands about like a panicked chicken. "Morgana can only be defeated by the child of a great sorcerer and one with royal blood! That's you, but if Merlin isn't here, we don't have the child of a great sorcerer!"

Arthur frowned. "Who says Merlin isn't a great sorcerer himself?"

Jill considered this.

"And besides, even if Merlin _was_ here, neither he nor I can defeat Morgana this time."

"Why?" Jill gasped.

"Because we've defeated her before," replied Arthur. "And she wasn't as powerful then. We both had to suck out quite a bit of our powers to defeat her. If she rises again, neither of us, not even together, would be powerful enough to stop her."

Jill let out a whine. "Oh, we are so dead."

"Are we?" asked Arthur mildly. "Tell me: who said it had to be a king who has royal blood?"

Jill considered this.

"Maybe a princess or even Veronica could be that part," Arthur said.

"Veronica and Lydia!" gasped Jill. "That's genius! Lydia's the daughter of a great sorcerer and Veronica's your daughter, which means she has royal blood!"

"I'm not saying that's it either," Arthur said. "All I'm saying is that you should look for different angles. Not everything is as simple as it seems. Two heads aren't always better than one."

Jill smiled gratefully. "I have to go now. I need to speak with General Octavius."

Arthur nodded and kissed Jill's hand. "Be safe, my granddaughter."

Jill grinned. "I'm sorry, but it's going to be hard thinking of you as my grandfather."

"I understand that." Arthur matched her grin. "Now get outta here, you little firecracker."

Smirking, Jill took off.


	37. Chapter 37

"You're doin' great," Chase encouraged.

"I have walked before, Chase," Ambrosia responded dryly, giving him a smile.

Chase was helping Ambrosia walk to the door of the infirmary so that she could visit Camelot. Both of them had heard the battle and were worried about its aftermath, seeing as they had heard nothing from anyone about it.

"I know," Chase said defensively. "But you spent all night and day in that bed and your legs are weakened."

"I know," sighed Ambrosia.

As they went towards Camelot, Ambrosia caught sight of Julius sitting on the edge of the fountain on the border between the Plaza and Camelot. He was engrossed in dipping his little daughter's toes in the fountain. Even from the distance they were at, Chase and Ambrosia could hear the child's delighted giggling. They exchanged a happy smile.

"Would you ever have children one day?" Ambrosia asked hoarsely.

"I'd like to," Chase replied. "I always pictured myself havin' maybe two: a boy 'n' a girl."

"I'd love even just one," Ambrosia said, smiling wistfully. "I can't tell you how much love I would give a child of my very own."

All of a sudden, a very loud buzz of conversation started up and the two miniatures spotted a large crowd of people crowded round something large in the Plaza. Exchanging a confused look, Chase and Ambrosia headed over there. They joined the crowd and found themselves standing next to Olympia and a Roman woman.

"What is going on?" Ambrosia asked her sister.

Olympia just pointed.

Ambrosia followed her sister's finger and let out a gasp at what she saw. Where the platform used to be, there was now a gaping hole that led down into complete blackness. Octavius was at the very front, attempting to keep people away from the hole. There were also several Romans doing the same.

"Everyone, keep back!" the general was ordering. "Stay away from the hole!"

Suddenly, a burst of fire flew through the hole, causing everyone to scream and scramble backwards. The Romans manoeuvred the crowd to a manageable distance, before a human figure floated up out of the hole, a gleaming sword in hand.

"Excalibur!" they heard someone yell.

Jill pushed to the front of the crowd and glared at the figure, who waved his hand and made the hole disappear, before landing on the newly formed ground.

"Ah, Jill." The man smiled. "Always nice to see you."

Jill folded her arms and tapped her fingers against her bicep. "Sadly, I can't say the same, _Horvath._ "

Horvath actually looked wounded. "But why, Jill?"

"BECAUSE YOU KILLED GENIE!" Jill bellowed shrilly, causing quite a few people to step away from her. "YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING THAT THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN THROUGH SINCE WE WOKE UP! YOU KIDNAPPED THE LEADERS! YOU POSSESSED ARTHUR! YOU KILLED GENIE! YOU WANT TO RAISE A POWERFUL SORCERESS FROM THE DEAD SO THAT SHE CAN KILL EVERYONE!"

Horvath gave a shrug and addressed the crowd. "She's right."

Shocked muttering broke out amongst the crowd, though Jill was unsure if this was because of the revelations or because they had picked up on the "kill everyone" part.

Horvath then lifted the sword in his hand. "You already know my plan," he said. "I am going to raise Morgana."

He waved his hand, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground a few metres away, causing most of the crowd to scatter in terror.

"But unfortunately, Excalibur alone is not enough," Horvath said. "The sword requires human blood to pass over its blade, as a sacrifice, before it can be used to raise Morgana."

Jill immediately threw a fireball at Horvath, but the sorcerer blocked it easily. Then he zapped her with a bolt of electricity. Giving a scream, she collapsed in pain.

Then Horvath turned to one of the remaining people: Julius, holding baby Hestia in terror.

"Two for one," Horvath said sinisterly.

With that, he gripped the sword and lunged towards Julius, who quickly turned Hestia away from the attack and clutched her tightly. He heard Octavius yell his name in a panic, before he heard the slicing sound of a sword entering a body. He gasped aloud, but he felt no pain. He realised that he had not been stabbed. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the person standing in front of him. Olympia had thrown herself in front of Julius, and now she had a sword piercing her stomach.

"OLYMPIA!" screamed Ambrosia from somewhere to Julius's right.

Holding Hestia in the crook of his left arm, Julius caught Olympia with his right arm as Horvath pulled the sword out of her. Portia appeared out of nowhere and gently took Hestia from Julius as the tribune gently lowered Olympia to the ground.

Ambrosia ran towards her fallen sister. Julius noticed this. "Keep her away," he instructed Rufus, who was standing nearby.

"She wants to say goodbye," cried Portia. "Just let her say goodbye to her sister!"

"Olympia is dead," Julius said bluntly. "Ambrosia can say goodbye when her sister no longer has a gaping sword wound in her stomach. I do not think Ambrosia wishes to see her sister in such a condition."

Portia just turned away, unable to watch as Rufus gently took hold of the thrashing and sobbing Ambrosia. Chase also took hold of Ambrosia, and he and Rufus half-carried, half-led her away.

Julius cradled Olympia's limp body in his arms. There was no doubt that she was dead: she was not breathing, the rate of bleeding was slowing, and if Julius felt for a pulse—which he deemed unnecessary—he knew he wouldn't find one.

Olympia had died to save Julius, who had only ever met the Greek woman perhaps three times. He had offered to help find her sister, and they had searched for a while. He had liked her quite a lot. Maybe even had feelings for her. Now he would never know.

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Julius looked up and around to see Octavius standing there. "Are you alright?"

Julius nodded slowly. "I'm fine. Physically, at least."

"That was too close," Octavius said. He frowned. "Did this woman know you?"

"Her name was Olympia," Julius said sadly. "I only met her a few times."

"You must have been close," Octavius observed. "Or else she would not have sacrificed her life for yours."

"I don't know why she did it," Julius said quietly, looking back down at Olympia's still body. He reached out with his left hand and gently closed her eyes. "All I know is that I am not sure whether to be grateful that she did."


	38. Chapter 38

Ambrosia struggled desperately against Chase and Rufus as they carried her towards Greece so that she could rest in her own room. Just after the entered the building, Ambrosia managed to accidentally elbow Rufus in the jaw, causing the Roman to stagger back in shock. Of course the legionary had seen a lot of battle and many injuries, but never from the elbow of a woman and never so suddenly.

"Ambrosia!" shouted Chase in alarm as the Greek woman pushed herself out of his arms.

"I have to see my sister!" Ambrosia shrieked. "I have to see her!"

"Amy, if you continue to shout, you'll damage your voice even more or you'll have another attack!"

Chase held onto Ambrosia until she finally stopped struggling and dropped to her knees, where she lay over them, shaking. Panicked that her illness had attacked, Chase quickly bent down beside her and found her sobbing hard.

"I can't lose her!" she howled. "Olympia is my only family! I can't lose her!"

"She's already gone, Amy!" Chase shouted, to be heard over Ambrosia's sobs. "She's dead! All you can do for her now is to calm down and not hurt yourself!"

"She can't be dead," whispered Ambrosia hoarsely. "She can't be. She can't be dead. She can't be…" She kept repeating this to herself.

"Be gentle with her," Rufus advised as Chase slowly stood up. "Grief is a powerful feeling. It can drive people to do reckless things if kept unchecked. Keep an eye on her and give her any and all support she needs. When a loved one dies, we often seek comfort from other close friends or family. She is going to need a lot of comfort. Provide it for her. If she needs someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, or someone to take her out to distract her-."

"I will do it for her," Chase interrupted. "I will do anything for her. Anything she needs, I will give."

Rufus nodded. "I had a feeling you would say that."

A crash sounded from outside, making both Rufus and Chase jump.

"I gather I am needed outside," Rufus said. "Take care of her."

"I will."

Chase watched as Rufus hurried out of the building. He waited two minutes or so before crouching down next to Ambrosia, who seemed to have silenced herself.

"Amy?"

Ambrosia suddenly pushed herself up and hugged Chase tightly around his chest, crying into his shirt. Chase put his arms around her and held her, rocking her gently. "It's alright," he said soothingly. "I'm here. I'm here for you, Amy. Whatever you need, I will be there."

Chase waited for Ambrosia to say something to this. He held her shaking body tightly, feeling his shirt become even wetter. After several minutes of silence, Ambrosia finally sniffled, "D-don't l-l-leave m-m-m-m-me…"

"I'm not going anywhere," promised Chase. "I promise."

…

Outside, Rufus found Octavius and another Roman legionary named Septimus hiding behind a large upturned stone slab. The latter was peering over the top while the former fiddled with his sword.

"What is happening?" demanded Rufus as he joined the two behind the rock.

"Jill and that man Horvath are having a magical fight," Octavius replied. "We are watching."

"In case the magic girl needs any help," Septimus said helpfully, in his normal lofty tone of voice. "Help that I will certainly be able to provide."

Rufus scoffed. "And exactly what aid will you be able to give? For one thing, she has magic and will most likely not even need any help. For another, what can _you_ do against a sorcerer?"

Septimus attempted to respond to this, but he had to close his mouth in defeat. Octavius shot Rufus a grin.

Meanwhile, the magical fight was going on strong. Nobody really knew what was happening, since the fight was so strong that it was incredibly fast and furious. Nobody wanted to get close.

All of a sudden, Excalibur came flying out of the tornado that was the two sorcerers' fight and landed on the ground a few metres away from Galahad, who was standing in a tight human shield with the rest of the knights, protecting Julius, Hestia, and the Greek woman's body; everybody else had scattered and it was clear they weren't able to get to safety in time.

Athena had been against Galahad going out to fight, but he had done something that he had told himself he would never do: disobey a medic. Now, however, he was actually pleased with his choice. Daring to break the human shield, Galahad ran out into the open and grabbed the sword—his sword, because Arthur had given Excalibur to him, so technically it was still his sword—before running back to the cover of the human shield.

"What are you doing?" hissed Percival. "Do you want to get yourself killed?"

"I had to get the sword," replied Galahad, turning it over in his hands. "I can't believe this is why I was attacked. I didn't even know my sword was Excalibur, and yet someone else did."

"Get rid of it!" Lancelot snapped. "Before someone realises it's here and attacks us!"

"Over here!" Rufus yelled from behind the stone, holding his arms out for the sword.

Galahad took the risk and threw it as hard as he could towards Rufus, who realised fairly quickly that it was coming at him blade first and quickly ducked, leaving Excalibur to crash into the stone that he was hiding behind.

Before Octavius or Rufus could react, Septimus left the safety of the stone, grabbed the sword, and held it aloft. "This is a nice sword," he said aloud.

Then he realised that the evil sorcerer Horvath was flying towards him. He let out a rather shrill scream and took off running.

In desperation, Octavius took up a smaller stone and threw it at Horvath, causing the sorcerer to glare in his direction. Hoping that Septimus was still running, Rufus peered round the side of the slab and found Septimus looking deeply into the sword.

"Hey, I can see my reflection in this," announced the legionary. He grinned. "You look so good today, Sep."

"SEPTIMUS!" yelled Octavius, Rufus, and even Artemis's angry voices at the same time.

The legionary quickly took off running again, but in his panic, he didn't look where he was going so he crashed into a wall and knocked himself out.

"Remind me again how that fool has not managed to get himself killed already?" sighed Rufus.

Octavius just shrugged.

Horvath immediately rushed towards the sword, but someone got there before she did and picked it up definitely. "Enough!" bellowed Jill, sending out a shockwave that made everybody except Horvath tumble off their feet. "You are not getting this sword!"

She held out her free hand and used an invisible force to keep Horvath from coming any closer.

"You said you had a spy," Jill announced for everyone to hear. "Who is it?"

"Why don't you wait a second and find out?" Horvath asked with a grin.

A moment later, something hit Jill hard on the head and knocked her out, causing the sword to tumble out of her hand and the force to be stopped on Horvath. Everybody in the vicinity gasped as they saw who picked up the sword and handed it to Horvath.

But it was Octavius who finally staggered forwards, a look of sheer agony on his face.

 _"_ _C-Cassius?!"_


	39. Chapter 39

Cassius, to his credit, did not look triumphant or smug. All he did was avoid everybody's eyes with a very neutral expression on his face.

 _"_ _Why?"_ Octavius managed to choke out.

Cassius didn't reply.

"I'll tell you why," Horvath snapped. "Because he's an outcast. You treat him like all the other legionaries when clearly he's got great potential to be something greater."

"By that logic, so do all the other legionaries," snapped Octavius, finding it easy to snap at Horvath but not at Cassius, despite the hundreds of times he had snapped at the legionary in the past.

"None of those other legionaries have anything to offer," Horvath announced.

Septimus, who had regained consciousness, automatically looked towards Rufus, and found his fellow legionary giving him an annoyed look back. Both could tell that the other was just as annoyed at Horvath's comment.

Julius, who was standing in front of the line of Merlinian knights, began edging forwards in alarm.

Horvath slapped Cassius on the back. "This one has potential. _I_ recognised that. Why couldn't you?" he added in a snarl, directed straight towards Octavius, who deliberately ignored him and addressed the person next to him.

"Cassius? What do you have to say about this?"

The legionary was staring down at the ground. Only Julius noticed that his hand was on his sword. The tribune realised what was going to happen just a second before it did.

"Octavius!" he managed to yell.

However, no sooner had he said that than Cassius drew his sword lightning-fast and attacked Octavius, who dodged backwards and drew his own sword.

"Cassius, I would not fight if I were you," Octavius said warningly. "I am a general with many years fighting experience."

"Well, I am a legionary with more actual fighting experience," snarled Cassius, slamming his sword aggressively against Octavius's. "Let's see if being resurrected has made you lazy."

With that, he pushed Octavius's sword away and swung his own sword towards Octavius's head, a move that the general blocked with his sword. They immediately began fighting furiously.

While that was going on, Julius turned to the group of Merlinian knights. "Listen, guys. I hate to ask this of you, but could you make a distraction while I steal the sword?"

"What kind of distraction?" asked Percival.

"Just a big one," Julius replied. "So I can get Excalibur away from Horvath."

Lancelot swung his sword around in a specific formation. Apparently that meant something to the knights, because they all immediately and simultaneously charged towards Horvath. The result was almost comical: the evil sorcerer had obviously not been expecting an attack that aggressive so his facial expression was actually quite amusing to Julius, who watched as the knights got thrown around and piled themselves on top of Horvath, only to get thrown around again.

He didn't realise that the distraction had worked so well until he finally spotted Excalibur lying a few metres away from him. Gasping, he limped over to it, picked it up, and hurried away again.

On the other side of the square, Octavius and Cassius were still fighting furiously. The former was a very strong general. The latter was a very experienced legionary. Both of these facts together meant that neither was able to gain the upper hand.

Finally, Cassius swept Octavius's legs out from under him and managed to knock his sword away. As Octavius stared into the face of his legionary, he saw a glimmer of regret in Cassius's eyes, but before he could try to exploit this, Cassius raised his sword high above his head, preparing to strike. Octavius had no strength to roll out of the way or dodge, so he looked directly into Cassius's eyes and prepared for his inevitable death.

Then he heard Cassius give an agonising gasp and saw the tip of a sword appear through his chest. Cassius's eyes were wide with shock and pain. The tip of the sword disappeared, and Cassius collapsed sideways, dead before he hit the ground. Octavius stared up in shock at the equally as shocked face of his cousin, who was clutching a blood-soaked Excalibur.

"Julius…" whispered Octavius, gazing sadly at his distressed cousin, seeing Julius's inner turmoil reflected on his face.

A moment later, several Merlinian knights went flying as Horvath angrily swept them all aside. He caught sight of Julius, who was still grasping Excalibur, and immediately began propelling himself towards the tribune. Julius backed up in fear, going slowly because he didn't have his cane.

"Give me that sword!" Horvath raged.

"Why don't you come over here and take it?" Julius challenged bravely. Or maybe it was stupidly. Julius tended to blur the lines between brave and stupid on a daily basis. "You're powerful enough!"

"I can't!" Horvath snapped. "Once the sacrifice is complete, if the sword is stolen, I can't take it back or the spell won't work! It has to be given freely!"

"Well then, that's good." Julius stared defiantly into Horvath's eyes. "Because you're not getting this sword freely from me."

"Freely-," said Horvath, an evil gleam in his eye that Julius didn't like the look of. "-doesn't mean willingly."

It only seemed like Julius blinked, but just a moment later, Horvath grabbed Octavius off the ground and held him in a suffocating chokehold.

"Octavius!" Julius cried in alarm.

"Give me the sword or he dies," Horvath snarled simply.

"Don't do it!" Octavius shouted hoarsely. "Julius, don't give it to him!"

"There's been enough death and bloodshed today, don't you agree?" Horvath leered.

Julius flinched.

"Julius!" called Octavius. "What happened with Cassius wasn't your fault!"

"I killed him though," Julius said quietly, though just loud enough for his cousin to hear. "He…he's right. I don't want any more death on my conscience."

"Don't listen to him!" Octavius yelled. "You can't give him the sword or he'll raise Morgana and kill everyone!"

"But I can't let you die!" Julius yelled, tears springing to his eyes. "Not like this!"

"This isn't your decision to make!" Octavius yelled back. "It's either me or the world, Julius. And you have to choose the world. In every soldier's life, there comes a choice: one life or everyone's. You always have to choose everyone's."

A single tear fell down Julius's cheek. "I can't let you die," he said. "I-I owe everything to you. You're my cousin, for Jupiter's sake, and I love you. I can't let you die."

With that, he held the sword out towards Horvath.

"No!" choked Octavius, before Horvath flung him aside and grabbed Excalibur out of Julius's hands and promptly vanished.

The weight of everything that had just happened—from taking the life of his friend to dooming the world—overwhelmed Julius, and he collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.


	40. Chapter 40

Athena was sat sideways outside Octavius's quarters, leaning against the outside wall. Julius was lying next to her, his head resting on her hip. Athena didn't know if the tribune was asleep or not; he hadn't moved since he had first got into that positon, about half an hour ago. However, Athena continued to stroke his arm in a soothing manner. She believed that, as a medic, her duty was to offer support to and comfort people who had just suffered mentally, as Julius had.

Truth be told, she was worried about Julius. The mental strain of having to kill his friend—the first and so far only person Julius had ever killed—and then giving the sword to a maniac who was about to destroy the world…she was worried about the mental strain on the poor young tribune.

Footsteps made her look up. She saw Octavius walking slowly and quietly up to her. He stopped in front of her, and the two exchanged a sad look, before Octavius's eyes darted to his catatonic cousin.

As soon as Horvath had disappeared, Octavius had been intending to have a very heated conversation with his cousin, but as soon as Julius had collapsed, Octavius had desperately called Athena over, fearing the worst. As Athena had examined his cousin, Octavius had felt such a pain in his heart. Poor Julius had just killed his friend and handed over the instrument that would help destroy the world. No wonder Julius was in this state.

"Jill, Galahad, Chase, and Ambrosia are in the Plaza," Octavius said quietly. "They are talking about the incident, I know. I can only hope they are not judging Julius too harshly."

"I am sure they understand," Athena said. "Anybody in his position would do the same."

Octavius nodded. "I hope so." His brows creased as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. "All this has been so hard on him. First the accident, then the bullying, then finding out we're not real, and now…now having to kill Cassius and hand over Excalibur. I don't know how much more he can take."

Just then, Julius took a deep, shuddering breath in. Octavius knelt down next to him and found the tribune's eyes open and staring at nothing.

"Julius?" Octavius said, smoothing Julius's messy hair. "Can you speak to me?"

Julius only closed his eyes and said nothing.

Octavius straightened up. "I think I will go and talk to the others now," he said. "I need to make sure they are not talking about Julius in a harsh way."

"Alright. I will stay here with Julius until he is ready to move."

"If you two are still here by freezing time, I will come and get you, and we can put Julius in his bed," Octavius said.

Athena nodded. "That is fair. Thank you, Octavius."

"You are welcome, Athena."

Octavius turned and, rather reluctantly, walked away. On his way back to the Plaza, he almost literally bumped into Rufus, who was coming the other way.

"General Octavius," Rufus said, saluting.

Octavius just gave a weary gesture that told Rufus to be at ease. As Rufus relaxed, Octavius scrutinised his legionary. After all, Rufus and Cassius had been fairly close. Not quite friends, but close all the same. Rufus seemed to have been grieving, but he hid it well. When he spoke again, only a small catch in his voice betrayed his grief. "Do you have any time to talk?" Rufus asked.

Octavius nodded. "Yes. What is troubling you, Rufus?"

"It is-." Rufus hesitated. "It is about Julius."

Octavius frowned, concentrating a little more now.

"I know it is none of my concern, but after the battle with the evil sorcerer, did you yell at Julius?"

Octavius sighed. "Yes. I said some things I did not mean and I regret it deeply."

"I-I just do not think you know how badly it affected Julius," Rufus said. "I saw him afterwards, down by the edge of the exhibit. He thought he was alone. He said some things that I will not repeat, but the gist of it was that…" He paused and looked Octavius directly in the eyes. "…he thought it would be better if he was not in your life."

Octavius's mouth fell open in shock as he realised what Rufus was saying.

"H-he was going to…?" he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"Luckily, Portia came and inadvertently stopped him," Rufus said.

"I cannot believe he thought it was better for him to die!" Octavius gasped. "How did Portia stop him?"

"She had Hestia," Rufus replied.

Octavius suddenly slammed his hands on Rufus's shoulders. "Hestia! Did you say Hestia? That is perfect! Hestia should be able to help Julius! She should still be with Portia, right…? Can you-?"

"I will find Portia and Hestia," Rufus said, anticipating what the general was going to ask. "And sir…I hope Julius gets better soon."

"So do we all," Octavius said.

…

Athena let out a muffled sob as she continued to stroke and rub Julius's arm. She was reflecting on everything that had happened recently. It helped detract from the pain of not being to help one of her closest friends.

Before she knew it, she had another visitor: this one with a bandage around his head.

"I came to see how Julius is," Septimus said sadly. "Has he said anything?"

Athena shook her head. "No. I am very worried about him."

Septimus observed Athena, and saw that she looked very tired. The legionary supposed it was from being up and about for so long.

"I can take Julius to his bed," Septimus offered. "You can go and rest."

Athena frowned. "I would not want to put you to any trouble…"

"It's no trouble," promised Septimus. "Julius has been my closest friend since we were children, and he has helped me many times. If I can help him now, it would be of great benefit to both of us." As Athena continued to look uncertain, he added, "You won't be any good to your patients if you're too tired to concentrate."

"I suppose you have a point," Athena admitted. "You are sure it is no trouble?"

"None at all," Septimus reassured her.

Athena shifted her weight slightly so that she could prop Julius up, in order to allow Septimus to lift Julius up. Waving goodbye, Athena left.

Septimus carried the catatonic Julius into Octavius's quarters and then through to the tribune's own quarters, where he lay Julius down on his bed. After drawing the covers over the tribune, he was just turning to leave when a rasping voice spoke: "Do you know why I make jokes and why I'm so cheeky all the time?"

Septimus, feeling both hopeful and filled with dread at the same time, sat down in the chair next to Julius's bed, inviting Julius to go on.

"It's because I have to use humour to hide my pain. If I don't, everything becomes too much. Everything overwhelms me and I want to die. I felt it when I was alive and I still feel it now."

Septimus felt a pang of sorrow and sympathy in his heart as he gazed at the still form of his best friend, who had just been forced to kill a friend to save his cousin. Septimus didn't know much about situations like that but he knew that nobody should have to go through a situation like that.

"I nearly jumped off the side of the exhibit after Octavius yelled at me," Julius said, ignoring Septimus's subsequent gasp of shock. "That just shows how psychologically unbalanced I am."

He suddenly stopped and let out a wail, giving Septimus a fright. The legionary stared at Julius as the tribune curled up in a ball and began to shake. He seemed to be having trouble breathing.

Septimus quickly ran to the door of Octavius's quarters and yelled, "HELP! I NEED A MEDIC HERE!"

Two people came running: two men. One was clearly a Westerner and the other was clearly a Greek. Septimus brought them inside to Julius, who was still shaking violently.

Nicomedes hurried round to the other side of the bed and pushed down on Julius's shoulder, while Chase held the tribune's hand.

"Do something!" snapped Septimus, when it became clear that nothing was changing.

"He's having a panic attack," Chase snapped back.

"There is nothing to do except support him and wait for him to calm down," Nico added. "Does he have any family? Anyone who can support him?"

"Octavius," replied Septimus instantly.

"Go get him," said Chase and Nico at the same time.

Septimus immediately sprinted out of the building and ran to find Octavius, also hoping to find Athena. He knew it was wrong of him to expect her to help after he had specifically told her to get some rest, but he also knew that Julius desperately needed help and Athena was the best person to give it to him.

He could only hope that the psychological damage to poor Julius was neither extensive nor lasting.


	41. Chapter 41

"Finally…! I hold Excalibur in my hands! Now I can finally raise Morgana and have her destroy the world! Then I can rebuild it…just as I've always wanted.

"First, the stone. I can't believe some idiot actually included it in a _museum exhibit._ Guess he didn't expect anyone to use it for evil purposes. Just stick the sword in there…like that. There you go.

"Now, the incantation. You remember it, don't you, Horvath? Of course, you haven't had to use it before, seeing as that meddling Balthazar has always interrupted the process at some point or another, but hopefully you'll still remember it.

"…you know it's weird you're talking to yourself. Right, Horvath? Hmm…maybe I'm not talking to myself. Maybe I seem like I'm talking to myself when I'm actually talking to Morgana. Subconsciously. Anyway, the incantation. Here we go. First, in Latin.

"Antiqua, potens magnificum. Et eduxero vos de somno surgere. Concedo, ubi quondam capite lueretur. Simul, ut praeesset. Simul, ut nos in servitutem redigerent. Nos spes metum et vim omnium hominum corda. Nihil obstare possit. Hoc gladium induxero vos ad terram."

"Finally, in English.

"Ancient one, powerful one, magnificent one. With this sword, I bring you back. I raise you from your slumber. I grant you life where there once was death. Together, we will rule. Together, we will enslave. We will share power and strike fear into the hearts of all men and women. Nothing will be able to stop us.

"Hahaha! It's working!

"IT'S WORKING!"


	42. Chapter 42

Morgana stepped cleanly off the platform and into the exhibit. The few people around simply gawked at her, both shocked and terrified at her appearance. Morgana had no idea who the people were, but she spotted a face she recognised from her previous reign. Clearly this was not too long in the future.

Ten seconds had passed without the peasants bowing to her, so Morgana became angry. She fired a plasma bolt towards a group of three people, causing them to scatter in terror, screaming their heads off. Morgana smiled wickedly as the rest of the peasants around her did the same. That was more like it.

Then she spotted a familiar face coming into the square: two familiar faces, actually. Morgana narrowed her eyes. She had killed the female in her previous life, she remembered that. A tsunami. How was she now here?

Jill stared at Morgana. "H-Horvath did it," she whispered in terror. "He finally managed to raise Morgana."

"This is really bad," Galahad stated nervously.

Morgana lifted her hand.

"MOVE!" Jill screamed, pushing Galahad to the side.

The plasma bolt hit the ground in the exact spot they were standing in just seconds earlier. It made a large hole.

"Sh-she's stronger than before," stammered Galahad.

Jill pulled Galahad to his feet and the two of them raced across the Plaza, dodging plasma bolts as they ran. Eventually, one caught Galahad on the shin. He was wearing metal boots so it didn't hurt him, but it still caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Jill skidded to a halt, ran back, and knelt next to him, checking that he was okay. She looked up just in time to see Morgana flinging a barrage of plasma bolts their way. She quickly raised a shield around the two of them, but Morgana kept up her barrage, and it splintered Jill's shield quickly.

On the other side of the Plaza, Octavius was peering out from behind a building. Behind him, Rufus and Septimus were crouched, waiting for their general's orders. Octavius gauged the situation quickly, before turning to his legionaries.

"Rufus, I need you to assemble in the senate building all the medics you can find. I know of Athena, Chase, Hippocrates, and Nicomedes. We'll need them. Septimus, gather as many fighters from each civilisation as you can and take them to Arthur's castle."

"What are _you_ going to do?" Rufus asked.

"I need to give Jill and Galahad as much aid as I can," Octavius replied. "Otherwise they will die."

Rufus and Septimus both began to protest, but Octavius interrupted, "Go, now!"

Exchanging a look, the two legionaries hurried away.

Octavius drew his sword and charged out from his hiding place. It was a good thing he had picked that moment: Jill's shield had finally been broken and she had collapsed backwards. Galahad was angling himself in front of Jill to protect her but all he had to protect himself was a metal vest. His sword would do no good against a plasma bolt.

Octavius charged Morgana and sliced his sword towards her middle. However, his sword went right through her, to his dismay. Morgana turned, swept her hand round, and knocked Octavius off his feet, causing his sword to go flying out of his hand.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Galahad pulled Jill away from the fight and out of sight round a building. When Morgana turned back to where they used to be, Octavius quickly retrieved his sword and also disappeared.

When he ran into the senate building, he found Rufus and the medics, just as he had asked for. Athena, Chase, Hippocrates, Nicomedes, and a Merlinian man whom Octavius didn't know. There was also a woman standing next to the Merlinian man. She didn't look like a medic, and going from the tight way she was clutching the Merlinian man's arm, Octavius deduced that she was probably only there for him.

"Alright, everyone," Octavius said. "Listen up. A battle is going to commence, and I need every medic in specific places in order to best help the wounded." He looked directly at the Merlinian man. "Forgive me, but I do not know you."

"Victor," the man said. He indicated the woman next to him. "My wife, Christina."

"I'm not a medic," Christina piped up. "I'm just here for Victor."

"Then it may be best for you to stay away from the battle," Octavius said. "My cousin, who has a crippled leg, is going to be staying in my quarters. You can join him there."

Christina glanced at Victor, who nodded.

"Alright," she said.

"What's the plan?" asked Chase.

"We look to you as a leader," Athena added. "Where do you need us?"

…

Ambrosia was heading quickly towards the Plaza when someone coming from the opposite direction grabbed her arm.

"Ambrosia, we need to release Lydia!" the Westerner gasped, and it was only then that Ambrosia realised who he was.

"But how can we get to her?"

"I don't know, but we're going to have to!" Caleb chewed his lip worriedly. "Can you help me?"

Ambrosia nodded. "Of course. Where is she?"

"In Camelot's prison," Caleb replied. "I've been there, so I know the way."

Ambrosia suddenly caught sight of what Caleb was holding. It was a large paving stone that had been ripped out of the ground.

"What-?" she began.

But before she could ask, Caleb ran off. Ambrosia followed him through unfamiliar territory, into a grey building in Camelot. They passed through a block of cells before reaching a single cold cell, into which Caleb peered. "Lydia?"

The Merlinian sorcerer's face appeared out of the gloom. "Caleb? What's going on up there?"

"Uh…" Caleb dithered, unsure of how to explain.

"Morgana," Ambrosia said helpfully, by way of explanation.

And that told Lydia literally everything she needed to know.

"I need to get out of here," she said. "Have you got the key?"

Caleb shook his head.

"Then how are you going to get me out?" Lydia demanded.

Caleb simply raised the paving stone and smashed it forcefully against the lock several times, until they all heard it break.

"So THAT's what that was for," Ambrosia said.

Lydia pushed open the broken gate and passionately kissed Caleb right in front of Ambrosia, who developed a newfound interest in the ceiling.

"Let's go," Lydia said after she pulled away. "We got a world to save."

…

 **Once again, Lydia and Caleb belong to Nightflame203. Rufus and Athena belong to Mythicalnightguard. Horvath and Morgana are owned by whoever the heck made The Sorcerer's Apprentice film XD**


	43. Chapter 43

Arthur, Jill, Lydia, Chase, Ambrosia, and Caleb had managed to find Excalibur. For the spell, Horvath had had to stick it into a special stone, and they had found this behind a building in Greece, near the edge of the exhibit.

"We gotta get it out," Chase said worriedly.

"It's the only thing that can defeat Morgana," agreed Arthur, who had been found by Lydia, Caleb, and Ambrosia on their way out of the prison and been brought along. "But unfortunately, only the chosen two can pull it out."

"Could it be you and Lydia?" Jill asked.

Arthur and Lydia exchanged a look. "We could try," Lydia said.

They both placed their hands on the hilt of Excalibur.

"This takes me back," commented Arthur, causing Jill to giggle.

Unfortunately, this didn't work. They tried every combination they could think of, even using Jill in place of both Arthur AND Lydia, yet nothing worked.

"This could be a problem," Caleb said.

"Why isn't it working?" snapped Lydia in frustration. "We're the only three people it could be!"

"Veronica could be too," suggested Jill in sudden panic. "She has royal blood. If Veronica _is_ the person to be paired with Lydia, then that causes a serious problem."

Everyone stared at Jill in alarm. "Yeah it does," agreed Lydia. "Because she's not here. Maybe that's why Horvath kidnapped her…"

"Oh no…" Ambrosia muttered fearfully, making Chase hug her.

"We can't beat Morgana," Lydia said defeatedly.

"Of course you can't!" Morgana's voice boomed.

Everyone immediately scattered as a large plasma bolt broke the tiles right in front of the stone.

Jill and Lydia both rolled over and fired their own missiles at Morgana, who waved them aside easily and sent several more plasma bolts at them, causing them to run and hide behind a building. Opposite them, they could see Chase, Ambrosia, and Caleb hiding behind another building.

"We have to get them away from the fight," Lydia whispered to Jill.

"I know," Jill said back. "You go get them while I distract Morgana."

"How are you going to do that?" Lydia asked.

"Make her angry."

"Again: how?"

"Like this." Jill leant out from behind the building, cupped her hands around her mouth to make a megaphone, and yelled, "You throw like a baby!"

Morgana bristled.

"She doesn't look very angry," observed Lydia. "Irritated, maybe."

Scowling, Jill tried again: "For an ancient, all-powerful sorceress, you sure can't do very much."

"I will show you the true meaning of power!" Morgana bellowed.

Jill shot a smug look at Lydia, who smirked back. "That's more like it," Lydia said.

Jill took off running across the tiles, flinging a tiny bolt of electricity every so often at Morgana, to taunt her. As she ran, she caught sight of the desolation in the Plaza and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

Bodies littered the area. Some were clearly dead, some only seemed to be dead, and some were moving in pain. Jill wished she could help them, but she spotted Athena and Nicomedes already there, tending to some of the wounded, so she didn't feel as bad to leave them alone.

On the other side of the Plaza, Athena was prioritising people who were hurt the worst, but when Nico headed off to check on a woman who was bleeding profusely, Athena caught sight of two people she recognised, lying among the wounded. She hurriedly knelt down next to Septimus, who seemed to be injured worse, and examined him. To her horror, he had a hole burned through his chest plate, which she hurriedly removed to check for damage underneath.

"Athena…" choked Rufus's voice.

Athena turned to look at Rufus, who was lying on his back, hands holding his chest, eyes staring at the sky.

"Rufus, are you hurt?" Athena asked worriedly as she examined Septimus.

"Winded," Rufus replied hoarsely. "L-low on oxygen. That evil witch almost suffocated me."

Athena looked away from Rufus and back at Septimus. There was not much damage to Septimus's chest, but there was enough. A painful burn covered almost three-quarters of the legionary's chest. It didn't go deep enough to cause any internal harm, but it looked extremely painful.

"Rufus, I know you are hurt, but I need your help."

Rufus struggled to sit up, his breathing shallow but getting stronger. "I am always here to help, Athena. Why do you need?"

"There are labelled pouches of Lavandula Angustifolia and Aloe Vera in the infirmary," Athena said. "They are used for treating burns. I need you to get some for me, to help me treat Septimus's injury."

"Of course," Rufus said, nodding. He struggled to his feet and hurried as quickly as he could towards the infirmary.

…

As soon as Morgana began to follow Jill, Lydia bolted across the small space, past Excalibur, heading towards her friends and boyfriend. As she reached them, she heard Morgana bellow, "HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL MORGANA OF BEING A FRAUD?!"

Lydia facepalmed. "Jill…why would you do that?"

Then Morgana's clear voice added, "DO NOT FRET. I HAVE MANY MORE TRICKS THAN SIMPLE PLASMA BOLTS."

Just seconds after this, Lydia felt the entire exhibit rock. She clutched the sword in the stone for balance, before spotting her friends huddled behind the building. They seemed to be safe, however, with the exhibit rocking more violently by the second, they too were losing their balance. Finally, Ambrosia fell backwards, and, since she was holding Chase's hand and Caleb was holding Chase's other hand, the two Westerners fell too. Unfortunately, they all toppled right off the edge of the exhibit.

Lydia automatically charged forwards and threw herself down with her torso hanging over the exhibit. Using a tiny bit of magic to keep herself in place, she desperately flung a wave of magic after her friends. The magic that reached them was not strong enough to catch them, only to slow their descent. Lydia winced as the three of them hit the floor.

She leapt off the side of the exhibit herself and gently floated down to the ground, where she hurriedly checked on her friends. Ambrosia and Caleb were unconscious. Chase was groaning in pain.

"Chase, are you okay?" Lydia gasped. "Speak to me!"

"I'm fine," wheezed Chase. "Landed on my back, that's all. No spinal damage, I don't think." He rolled onto his stomach and crawled determinedly over to Ambrosia.

Lydia knelt next to Caleb and used some of her magic to ease any pain that he must be feeling. This seemed to help; Caleb's eyes opened after a few minutes of this.

"That was the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced," he gasped out. "I never want to feel that again."

"And I never again want to feel what I felt when I saw you fall," Lydia said quietly, almost crying with relief. "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel much pain anymore," Caleb told her. "But I think my leg might be broken."

Lydia hugged Caleb fiercely, to protests from the Westerner. "Usually I wouldn't protest this, but I'm feeling kinda delicate at the moment."

"I love you, Caleb."

Caleb froze, unable to believe what he had just heard. "Wh-what?"

Lydia pulled away from Caleb and sat back on her heels. "I love you," she repeated. "There's no denying that these feelings I have for you are my brain and heart's combined way of telling me that I love you."

Caleb gave a smile. "I love you too, Lydia."

A few metres away, Chase and Ambrosia were telling each other the exact same thing.


	44. Chapter 44

Julius's eyes snapped open as he heard a loud noise from outside, followed by screams and yells.

He tried to sit up. His limbs felt heavy and his chest ached. He felt exactly how he had felt the morning after that entire night spent throwing up when he had caught the bug. This time, he couldn't remember what had happened.

He remembered the state he had been in: catatonic, and traumatised by the fact that he had just killed his friend. He had been lying with Athena, who had been comforting him. But just after his chat with Septimus, everything had gone black. He wondered what had happened.

An almighty thudding sound rocked the whole exhibit. Seeing that his cane was nowhere in sight, Julius got up off the bed and used the wall to work his way around, through the door, through Octavius's quarters, and to the door. Peering out, he saw chaos.

An evil-looking old woman was flinging plasma bolts everywhere, causing the thudding he had heard. His keen eyes spotted Rufus and Centurion Tiberius on the other side of the Plaza, two of the only Romans he could see. They had shields, which they were using to defend themselves from the barrage Morgana was flinging at them.

As Julius watched, one of the plasma bolts managed to hit Tiberius in the knee, sending him down in pain. Grabbing Tiberius's fallen shield, Rufus did a graceful leap over the centurion and knelt on one knee in front of him, angling both shields to protect both himself and Tiberius.

Julius smiled, despite himself. He was so cynical about everything, and it was nice to see people helping and protecting each other, proving him wrong.

Then he caught sight of a few Merlinian knights—most recognisably: Lancelot, Galahad, and Percival—forming a wall with their rectangular shields. Morgana's plasma bolts kept ricocheting off the metal, and the shocks they left behind looked rather painful.

Just a few seconds after Julius had caught sight of them, Morgana spread her arms and caused a massive shockwave to spread through the Plaza, making literally everyone within the radius of her drop to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Morgana raised her hands to the sky, clearly preparing to kill them all.

"Hey!" Julius yelled, before he could stop himself.

Morgana turned. "Insignificant worm! How dare you address the great and powerful Morgana?!"

"Well, when you see the great and powerful Morgana, you can address her for me," Julius responded automatically.

As Morgana nearly exploded with rage, Julius snuck a glance at the Merlinian knights. The only one who was conscious—Percival—was slowly dragging his comrades out of harm. Julius knew he had to keep Morgana distracted until they were all safe.

"You dare insult Morgana?!" bellowed the old sorceress.

"Sure." Julius gave a shrug. "After all, witches don't frighten me."

If there was one thing Julius knew about sorceresses (and there literally was just one thing), it was that they hated to be insulted like that. Calling them "witches" or making them feel inferior was sure to get them mad. Julius wondered what would happen when Morgana got so mad that she decided to blast him all the way back to the first century.

"WITCHES!" Morgana howled. The holographic sky above them was turning dark, somehow, and the white fluffy clouds were morphing into storm clouds. "I CANNOT LET SUCH AN INSULT PASS!"

"You know what a bigger insult is?" Julius asked brazenly. "The fact that a crippled nobody just distracted the great and powerful Morgana from noticing that her prey has disappeared."

Whirling round, Morgana realised that the group of Merlinian knights were nowhere in sight. And it wasn't just them: everyone who had been affected by the shockwave had managed to drag themselves away, including Rufus and Tiberius, to Julius's relief.

Morgana spun back round to face Julius, who was giving the sorceress a triumphant look. "You're not as powerful as you think you are," he said, in a thoroughly serious tone.

Enraged, Morgana shot a beam of plasma at Julius, which hit him squarely in the chest and pushed him backwards into a wooden building, making him disappear inside.

Jill, who had witnessed this from across the Plaza, let out a choked scream. Horrified, she began to back away, before bumping into something. She turned and saw the hilt and most of the blade of Excalibur, sticking out of the stone. She glared at it viciously. It had started this whole mess, and the only person who could help undo it was goodness knows where.

But then Jill had a thought. All this time, they had presumed that two people needed to pull out Excalibur and defeat Morgana—one with royal blood, the other the child of a great sorcerer. But nowhere in the prophecy did it say that Morgana had to be defeated by two people.

 _That's it,_ she realised. _That-that's it!_

Placing her hand on Excalibur, she could feel the sword humming, as if to say, "you're absolutely correct."

Jill was the daughter of Merlin, a great sorcerer. She was also the granddaughter of King Arthur, meaning she had royal blood.

She had been destined to defeat Morgana on her own all along.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled. Excalibur slid free easily.

Holding the sword aloft, she saw the blade begin to glow. It started from the tip of the blade and slowly made its way down and through the hilt. When it reached her hand, Jill felt incredible power surge through her body. She knew she could take on the world.

Turning, she saw that Morgana had spotted her. The sorceress's face changed to a stunned look.

"It-it's not possible!"

"Oh yes it is," Jill said, and even she could hear Merlin's voice inside her own. "Today, you will be vanquished forever, Morgana."

The evil sorceress, in slight panic, flung a wave of plasma bolts at Jill, but she simply held out the sword and all the missiles disintegrated.

"Not possible!" shrieked Morgana.

Jill began walking towards Morgana. Every time the evil sorceress tried to attack her, the missiles always ended up dissolving or hitting something else. Morgana backed up as she continued her assault, but Jill held up her hand and Morgana was frozen in place, shrieking angrily.

"Unhand me!"

Jill simply walked up to Morgana and looked her directly in the face. "You're old news," she said. "You belong in ancient history."

With that, she stabbed the sword into Morgana's chest. The evil sorceress let out a high-pitched, inhuman scream. Even though Morgana was always only half-formed—which was why nothing could hurt her—Excalibur in the hands of the prophesised could most definitely hurt her.

Or kill her.

With one last inhuman scream, Morgana exploded into millions of tiny pieces.


	45. Chapter 45

As Jill stepped back, everyone in the Plaza around her began cheering and clapping wildly. She turned, almost frightened by the sound, and watched the people hug each other ecstatically. Despite the cold feeling in her heart, she smiled warmly at the others' happiness.

Then she saw her grandfather heading towards her, a great big smile on his face as he said, "Well done, Jill," and hugged her tightly.

"I can't believe that just happened," Jill said, exhaling deeply. "Did I really just single-handedly defeat Morgana?"

"Yes you did," Arthur said proudly. "And I couldn't be prouder."

Across the Plaza, Nicomedes hurried around the square until he found the person he was looking for, who was standing beside Legionary Rufus and Centurion Tiberius, both of whom were injured in some way. Nico tapped Octavius on the shoulder. "Sir, we have done what you asked and have located the prisoners."

Turning, Octavius saw several dishevelled people being helped along by Hippocrates and several other Greeks. He recognised everyone who had been taken by Arthur when he was possessed by Horvath: from Balthazar to Petronius, the latter of whom narrowed his eyes when he saw Octavius.

To his almost-surprise, he also saw Artemis being helped by Ambrosia, whom he also asked to help. Spotting them, Rufus hurried over to his half-sister and took her from Ambrosia, putting strain on his knee injury.

"Are you okay?" Rufus asked hurriedly. "What happened to you?"

"I do not remember," Artemis confessed. "All I remember is giving Hestia to Portia and then I blacked out. I hoped Cassius would come to save me, not a Greek woman."

Rufus felt a stab in his heart. Artemis didn't know. She didn't know what had happened to Cassius. He had to tell her.

As Octavius watched Athena treat Tiberius's leg, he suddenly heard a scream of distress. Whirling round, he was just in time to witness Artemis falling to her knees and begin sobbing loudly. His heart ached as he watched Rufus knee down next to her and gently embrace her, tilting her head to rest on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Jed was just waking up. He had been among the people who had been knocked out by Morgana's shockwave. Just moments before that, he had lost sight of Melody.

Struggling to his feet, Jed immediately lost his balance and had to lean against a building for support. His insides were churning, but he knew he had to find Melody and make sure she was okay. Pushing his way through the crowd, calling Melody's name, he searched desperately for the red-haired cowgirl.

It took him a while to find her. When he did, he found her lying on the ground, unconscious. In a panic, he shook her shoulders, trying to wake her up. Then Chase appeared out of nowhere and slapped his hands away. "She could have a neck or spine injury!" he scolded. "Let me examine her first."

Jed watched anxiously, the thirty-second examination feeling more like three hours. Finally, Chase said, "She's fine. She's just unconscious. She has no lasting or life-threatening injuries."

Jed breathed out in relief.

Watching all of these reunions, Jill felt a warm glow in her heart.

"You made all this possible, Jill," Arthur said warmly. "You saved the lives of everybody here."

All of a sudden, Jill felt an excruciating pain in her head. Crying out, her knees buckled and she collapsed forwards. Arthur caught her automatically and held her like that until the pain passed a few minutes later.

"Wh-what was _that_?" Jill gasped, sweating and breathing heavily from the pain.

"I hoped it wouldn't affect you," Arthur said sadly. "When Morgana was defeated the first time by myself and Merlin, that same pain affected us. We theorised that it was a side-effect of killing the second most powerful sorcerer who ever lived. The pain was split between the two of us, however, so not only did it not last very long, it wasn't as painful. Unfortunately, you will have to bear the full brunt of the pain alone, and it may not go away for years or even decades."

"How often?" Jill breathed.

"Infrequently," Arthur replied after a moment's pause. "But randomly."

Jill sighed and attempted to get to her feet, but an "aftershock" of pain was hitting her head like a particularly harsh migraine. It felt like her head was trying to split into two.

"We'll help you get through this, don't worry," Arthur promised. "You won't have to suffer alone."

Just then, Octavius came running up to them. "Have you seen Julius?" he panted. "I can't find him and I'm worried."

Jill stared at him in horror. "Has he not gotten back up?"

Octavius matched her horrified gaze. "What do you mean?"

"I saw him get blasted by Morgana after he distracted her to give the wounded enough time to escape," Jill explained worriedly. "He was knocked into that building over there." She pointed. "I-I thought he'd be okay. I'm so sorry."

Octavius immediately turned and ran towards the building that Jill had indicated. Spotting the wrecked wall, Octavius vaulted over the cracked part and immediately spotted his cousin lying limply by the opposite wall.

"Julius!"

Octavius rushed over to his cousin and felt for a pulse. There was one, but it was incredibly weak. There was blood on Julius's forehead and trickling out of his mouth. His chest showed no sign of injury, but it was clear that Julius was having trouble breathing from the way his chest was heaving.

"Julius, please talk to me!" Octavius pleaded.

A few seconds later, a weak voice croaked, "It's not my fault."

Dangerously close to crying, Octavius chuckled weakly. "Nobody said it was. What happened, Julius?"

"You know how you said-." Julius broke off in a fit of coughing. Octavius gently supported his cousin until he stopped. "-you said one day, my smart mouth would get me killed?"

"You're not dying," Octavius said fiercely.

"It's h-happening, Octavius," Julius rasped, almost every word punctuated by a heaving breath. "I insulted and was cheeky to the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, and now I'm paying the price for it."

"You saved a square full of people," Octavius corrected him. "Including Rufus and Tiberius, and Jill's fiancé Galahad. Morgana was going to kill them all."

Julius gave him a weak smile. "I guess I finally did something right."

"Don't say that." Octavius's brows knitted as he looked into the face of his dying cousin. "You've done many things right. You single-handedly won that battle for us all those centuries ago, remember? Without your strategy, we would all have been killed, especially me."

"Yes, but have I done anything useful since waking up in the museum?"

"You saved my life twice," Octavius replied. "At the expense of first Cassius's life and then your own peace of mind, after giving Excalibur to Horvath."

"Thank you for reminding me," Julius coughed.

His body jerked.

"Julius, stay with me!" Octavius shouted desperately. Turning his head towards the broken wall, he screamed, "ATHENA! HELP, SOMEONE HELP! I NEED A MEDIC! ATHENA!"

"I l-love you, Octavius," Julius choked. "Th-thank you for everything y-you have d-done for me…"

"Don't you dare leave me, Julius!" Octavius yelled desperately, frantically shaking his cousin. "Julius! NO!"

Just as Octavius yelled the tribune's name for the second time, Julius's body settled, and his grip on Octavius's hand slackened. His eyes closed and his chest became still.

As Octavius stared down in horror at his cousin's body, Athena appeared out of nowhere and quickly examined Julius. Tears springing to her eyes, she turned to look up at her fiancé. "He-he's gone, Octavius. I'm so s-sorry."

Octavius stared at her, his brain not quite processing what his heart already knew.

"Julius is dead, Octavius."

…

 **Mythicalnightguard owns Athena, Rufus, and Melody.**


	46. Chapter 46

Athena gently took Octavius in her arms as the general began openly crying. He was not an emotional man; having been in the army for around three-quarters of his life, he had seen many deaths and a lot of bloodshed. But nothing hurt worse than the fact that his cousin had just died in front of him.

Unseen, Rufus peered through the crack and saw a sight he never thought he would see: his general crying. A moment later, when his eyes shifted, he saw why.

He had never been terribly close to Julius. In fact, he had almost disliked the tribune for his position and the way he arrogantly spoke of legionaries without ever actually having been one. But he had been a good man, and Rufus could see how much his death was affecting Octavius.

Suddenly, Rufus heard Septimus's voice from outside, "Let go of me! I want to see my best friend!"

Rufus stepped to the side to allow an injured Septimus, who was being supported by Chase, to pass inside. The legionary gave a muffled gasp when he saw Julius's still body. Shaking Chase off, Septimus stumbled over to his close friend's body and fell to his knees beside it.

"Oh, Julius…!" The legionary gave a sob and clutched Julius's cold hand. Then he lay his head on Julius's chest and began crying almost as hard as Octavius was.

Athena held Octavius and rocked him gently, knowing how much her fiancé needed the comfort and support at that moment. Octavius's whole body was shaking. It was almost scary for Athena; she had known the general for many years—although they had only been together for about a year—and she had never seen him like this.

Soon, many other Romans were crowded round the hole in the wall, all of them paying their respects to Julius, the tribune who had fallen in battle. Only Rufus wasn't: he couldn't help wondering whether Cassius would have grieved for Julius or not. He knew they had never been the best of friends, but they had—although begrudgingly—respected each other.

Then Rufus felt someone stand beside him. Turning, he saw his half-sister staring down at Julius with a look of shock on her face. "Does it make you feel better?" Rufus asked. "Knowing that the man who killed your husband is now dead?"

He had only asked that because, after he had told Artemis that it was Julius who had killed Cassius, the woman had seemed very angry towards Julius.

"No, Rufus," Artemis replied. "It doesn't."

Then the screams of a small child reached their ears.

Rufus and Artemis stared at each other in horror. "Hestia…!" they both whispered at the same time.

Turning, Octavius spotted Portia holding baby Hestia in her arms. He moved forwards, through the crowd, and took the baby from Portia, who then began to cry, herself.

"I don't want her to see her father in such a state," Octavius said hoarsely to Athena.

"But this will be her last chance to touch her father before…y-you know…" Athena protested.

Octavius nodded miserably. Kneeling down beside Julius, he placed the little girl in the crook of his cousin's arm. Hestia stopped screaming and looked confusedly at her father. She patted his arm a couple of times and said, "Dadda?" which made Octavius's heart break even more. Finally, she snuggled up to Julius and closed her eyes. Within moments, she was sleeping peacefully.

"I wish I didn't have to take her away," Octavius whispered.

Only Athena was within earshot, and she could only place her hand on Octavius's shoulder.

"General Octavius?" called a voice.

Octavius turned blearily in the direction of the voice and saw Centurion Tiberius looking through the hole in the wall. "What is it, Centurion?"

"Pardon me for interrupting, but an Egyptian by the name of Ahkmenrah is standing beside our exhibit. He wants to know why our exhibit is so smashed up."

"Ahkmenrah…" Octavius repeated, gears turning in his head. "The magical tablet…"

"What are you talking about, Octavius?" asked Athena.

Octavius didn't reply. Instead, he carefully picked up the sleeping Hestia and handed her to Athena, who took the baby confusedly. Then Octavius bent down and picked up Julius's body. Finally, he began to stumble towards the exit.

"Octavius, what are you doing?" Athena called after him, but Octavius had already climbed out of the hole.

"Take me to Ahkmenrah," Octavius commanded of Tiberius, who nodded and saluted.

"Yes, sir."

Tiberius led Octavius to the edge of the exhibit, where the giant Egyptian was waiting.

"Would you mind telling me what happened here?" Ahkmenrah asked. "I do not wish for Mr Fredricks to discover this mess and punish us."

"Your tablet," Octavius called, ignoring the question. "Can it heal?"

Ahkmenrah looked down at the dead body in Octavius's arms and immediately understood. "Yes," he replied. "But it takes up a lot of the tablet's power. It can only be used once every decade or so."

"Can I use it to bring my cousin back?" Octavius asked desperately.

Ahkmenrah dithered uncertainly. "I…certainly it is _possible_ , but…"

When he trailed off, Octavius begged, "Please. He was my only family, and he died to save others' lives. He deserves to live again."

Ahkmenrah looked torn for a minute longer, before nodding. "I agree. Wait here."

With that, he rushed out of the room.

Rufus came up behind Octavius. "What are you doing, sir?" he asked.

"If there's even the slightest chance I can save Julius, I'm taking it," Octavius said determinedly. "He's the only biological family I have left, and he's the person I care most about apart from Athena. I-I have to do all I can to save him."

"This may not even work," Rufus told him gently.

"I know." Octavius nodded. "But…I have to try."

A few minutes of silence later, Ahkmenrah returned, clutching the giant golden tablet. Clutching it in one hand, the Egyptian prince held out his hand towards Octavius, who stepped onto it and was lifted up to join the tablet.

"Place him on the tablet," Ahkmenrah instructed.

Octavius lay Julius down on top of the tablet, as gently as he possibly could. Ahkmenrah closed his eyes and said a few words in Egyptian, causing the tablet to glow a bright gold. Octavius stared at it, transfixed.

After saying a few more words in Egyptian, Ahkmenrah opened his eyes, and the glowing stopped. Worried that something had gone wrong because of the very short duration, Octavius asked nervously, "I-is that it?"

"That is it," Ahkmenrah confirmed.

He gently slid Julius's body off the tablet and into his palm, next to Octavius. Then he put both miniatures down on the edge of the exhibit.

"I hope everything turns out well for you," Ahkmenrah said solemnly, before leaving.

Hardly daring to hope, Octavius slowly turned to Julius and found his body moving. His breath catching in his throat, Octavius watched as Julius pushed himself onto his elbows, groaning.

"I feel like my head just-."

He never got to finish the sentence; a moment later, Octavius launched himself at Julius and wrapped his cousin in a crushing hug. "Julius!" Octavius shouted joyfully.

"Octavius…?" Julius said back. "Was I dead?"

"Maybe," teased Octavius. "But you're back now, and that's the important-."

"Octavius!" yelled Athena's voice.

She and Rufus were running towards them. As they skidded to a halt next to them, Athena stared at Julius. "R-Rufus told me about…he never said…I thought it wouldn't…it worked!" she finished happily. "You brought him back!"

"I'm so glad it worked," Octavius beamed, almost suffocating his cousin with his tight hug.

Then the sound of a baby crying broke the air.

Spotting his child in Athena's arms, Julius broke away from Octavius and took Hestia in his own arms. The child soon stopped crying, sensing who she was with. Her adorable round eyes looked up into Julius's, and her face broke out into an adorable baby smile.

Julius hugged Hestia close to him. "Oh, Hestia."

He looked over at Octavius, who was holding hands with Athena and beaming. "Thank you for not letting my child become an orphan for the second time."

Octavius squeezed Julius's shoulder. "I love you, Julius. I wasn't going to give you up without a fight. You'd have done the same for me, wouldn't you?"

Julius smiled. "Always."


	47. Chapter 47

Arthur and King Alexander had organised a celebration in the Romans' absence. When the four of them, plus Hestia, returned to the Plaza, they saw that chairs and tables had been set up around the edge, and people were putting up strings of Christmas lights above the square.

"Nice," Julius said approvingly. "I could do with a celebration."

"Look!" a voice shouted.

The four Romans turned and saw a giant cuboid staggering up onto the platform. Chase's face peered out from behind it. "Look what I found," he said proudly to Ambrosia, who was helping to put up the lights. "Accordin' to the guy I got this from, it's an iPod."

"An iPod…?" repeated Ambrosia, puzzled. "What does it do?"

"Well, apparently it plays music," Chase replied. "I thought we could use it for the party."

"Splendid!" Septimus's voice drifted down from the platform. "We cannot have a party without music."

Rufus, Octavius, and Athena all turned to look at Julius, who was staring up at the platform, watching Septimus direct the people putting up the lights. The legionary hadn't noticed the tribune standing there.

"He looks so sad," Julius observed.

It was true. Despite Septimus's clear excitement at planning a party, it was also clear that his heart and soul was not in it, like it normally was. His eyes were red and puffy, clearly from crying, and his movements were unusually list.

"Talk to him," advised Athena.

"I can't," Julius said sadly. "He thinks I'm dead."

"Then I will go first and explain the situation," Octavius said firmly, striding up to the platform.

Julius exhaled through his nose and looked down at Hestia, who was peacefully sleeping in his arms, one of her little hands resting against her father's chest.

"I can't believe Hestia almost became an orphan for the second time," he said quietly.

"But thanks to Octavius, she isn't," Rufus said.

Julius sighed. "And I'm grateful for that, but…now I owe Octavius even more. I already owed him almost two life debts, and now I owe him one more."

"Octavius has already forgotten about them," Athena assured him. "All he cares about is that you're alive. He did it for himself as much as for you."

Julius looked down at the ground.

A few seconds later, the tribune heard Septimus's voice yell his name. Looking up, he saw the legionary staring down at him, an expression of utter joy on his face. Athena gently and skilfully took Hestia from Julius as the tribune raced up to the platform and was immediately wrapped in a bone-crushing hug from his best friend.

"Don't ever do that to me again!" Septimus shrieked. "Do you hear me?!"

"I hear you," wheezed Julius. "But I may not be able to keep that promise if you continue to squeeze me so viciously."

Septimus released Julius and punched him on the shoulder. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you alive, Julius."

Julius looked away awkwardly. He wasn't used to such attention directed towards him.

"I'm glad Julius is okay," Ambrosia said from over the square.

"Me too," agreed Chase. "He's a hero."

Then music started up. It was an odd style of song but it had a catchy opening, and before long, many people were up on the cobblestones, dancing.

Chase extended a hand to Ambrosia. "Care to dance?"

Ambrosia beamed and took the hand. Chase brought Ambrosia onto the "dance floor" and the two began dancing together. Ambrosia felt like the song was just right for a party, and listening to it, she loved the lyrics: _I used to think maybe you loved me now baby I'm sure. And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door. Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down. 'Cause I just can't wait 'til you write me you're coming around._ (1)

After the song had finished, many people went to sit down at the tables. Chase and Ambrosia, however, stayed up for the next song. So did three other couples: Jill and Galahad, Lydia and Caleb, and Octavius and Athena.

 _Here's to us, one more toast and then we'll pay the bill. Deep inside, both of us can feel the autumn chill. Birds of passage, you and me, we fly instinctively. When the summer's over and the dark clouds hide the sun, neither you nor I'm to blame when all is said and done._ (2)

As the song was finishing, Lydia took Caleb's hand and drew him away from the Plaza. They reached the fountain on the edge of Camelot just as the next song was playing. They sat down on the edge of it in silence for a minute, listening to the introduction and then the first few lyrics: _Everybody wants you. Everybody wants your love. I'd just like to make you mine all night._ (3)

"I'm glad it's finally all over," Lydia said quietly.

"Me too," agreed Caleb. "I'm also glad my leg isn't actually broken."

"You could have died, falling off that exhibit." Lydia felt the familiar thrill in her heart at the memory of watching the man she loved fall. "I wish I could have caught you properly."

"You still saved our lives," Caleb said. "You could barely have done more.

As they fell silent again, they heard more of the song floating over the horizon: _Everybody sees you. Everybody looks and stares. I'd just like to make you mine, all mine._ (3)

"Do you think it's possible for exhibits to have kids?" Lydia asked after a while.

"I'm not entirely sure." Caleb looked across at Lydia. "Why? Are you thinking of having children?"

"I think I'd like to," Lydia replied. "But…I might be too scared."

"Why?" Caleb asked.

Lydia took a deep breath. "In my previous life, there was a guy I used to date called Peter. I…well…" She snuck an uneasy glance at Caleb. "I loved him."

Caleb didn't react to that.

"But then he broke my heart," Lydia continued. "He broke up with me because I wasn't good enough for him."

"That idiot!" Caleb burst out. "He must not have known what he was doing, because no-one in their right mind could think you aren't good enough for them."

Lydia smiled gratefully. "Thanks. But it's okay, I got over him. But the thing that hurt most was…when he left me, I was pregnant."

Caleb stared at her in shock.

"I didn't know if I could raise it without him, but I knew I'd do my best, no matter what. But…just two months later, I was attacked by one of Morgana's most loyal followers. It wasn't Horvath, it was before he turned to the dark side. Anyway, they stabbed me in the abdomen. I survived that, but I found out that it had caused me to have a miscarriage."

"I'm so sorry," Caleb said, unable to say much more to comfort Lydia.

"So I know it wasn't my fault that I had a miscarriage, but it still hurt. I almost lost my sanity. If it weren't for my half-brother, Zachary, I would probably have wasted away and died. That's why I want kids, but I don't know if I'll be able to go through the pregnancy."

"No matter what, I'm here for you," Caleb said, putting his arm around Lydia. "Okay? I'll stand by you, no matter what."

…

 **(1) = Walking On Sunshine-Katrina & The Waves**

 **(2) = When All Is Said And Done-Abba**

 **(3) = Give It Up-KC and the Sunshine Band**


	48. Chapter 48

Back at the party, Jill and Galahad were the only people to have not taken a break. Currently, they were the only people on the dance floor. There was a lovely slow song playing, and unbeknownst to the couple, everyone was happily watching them dance.

 _Where it began, I can't begin to knowing. But then I know it's growing strong. Was in the spring, then spring became the summer. Who'd have believed you'd come along?_

 _Hands, touching hands. Reaching out, touching me, touching you._

 _Sweet Caroline. Good times never seemed so good. I'd be inclined. To believe they never would, oh no, no._ (4)

When they finished dancing, Septimus hopped up onto the platform and paused the music.

"Before the next song plays, I would like to take the time to invite everyone onto the dance floor," he said. "This song is apparently a party song, so I'd like everyone up here dancing."

Obediently, most people got up and flooded to the dance floor, after which Septimus played the song.

The intro was rather slow going, but when the song started up properly, it was very catchy and fun to dance to.

 _I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky, like a tiger defying the laws of gravity. I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva. I'm gonna go-go-go, there's no stopping me._

 _I'm burnin' through the sky yeah. Two hundred degrees, that's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit. I'm trav'ling at the speed of light, I wanna make a supersonic man out of you._

 _Don't stop me now. I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball. Don't stop me now. If you wanna have a good time, just give me a call._

 _Don't stop me now, 'cause I'm having such good time. Don't stop me now, yes I'm having a good time. I don't want to stop at all._ (5)

Everyone cheered as the song ended.

"That was so much fun," Jill breathed, exhilarated from the fast pace of the dance that had gone with the song. "I hope we can do that again."

Galahad smiled at her.

All of a sudden, a plasma bolt flew out of nowhere and blasted the iPod, causing it to explode in a puff of electricity, knocking Septimus off the platform. Julius hurried over to check on his unconscious friend, while the warriors in the group hurriedly grabbed their weapons.

Then Horvath appeared out of nowhere, conjuring up strong winds that knocked almost everyone over. In the middle of the Plaza, Jill and Galahad clutched each other tightly, attempting to lean against the wind.

"You ruined everything!" howled Horvath, looking more demented than any Merlinian had ever seen him. He pointed straight at Jill with an angry finger. "You destroyed Morgana! And now you're going to pay!"

Jill glare at Horvath. "Get out of here!" she yelled angrily. "How dare you show you face after what you did! And where were _you_ during the battle? Hiding, you coward?"

"You ruined everything!" Horvath screeched again, electricity crackling in his hand.

Only one person reacted fast enough to what Horvath did next. As the plasma beam flew through the air, someone shoved Jill out of its path and took the brunt of the explosion himself.

The only sound apart from a yell of pain was Jill's scream of, "GALAHAD!"

Shocked and horrified people in the crowd began screaming and running around in a panic. It was almost like a stampede. Only a few people noticed that Horvath was about to deliver a killing shot to Jill, but nobody could get close enough to stop him amongst the chaos.

Then there was the sound of a gunshot, causing everything to stop. Horvath stared down at his chest in shock, where a puddle of blood was rapidly growing. A moment later, he collapsed, dead. All eyes turned to where the gunshot had originated. There, everyone saw Ambrosia holding a smoking gun, having pulled it from Chase's holster. Even Chase was staring at Ambrosia in shock, but the Greek woman seemed not to notice. All she could do was stare down at the dead body in front of her, stunned at what she had done.

Then their eyes were drawn away by Jill desperately sobbing her fiancé's name. Athena, Chase, and Hippocrates all started forwards, but Nicomedes was already there, examining Galahad. As Jill watched, terrified, Nico turned to her and solemnly shook his head.

Jill felt like she was about to die. Her head spun and there was a terrible pain in her chest. "He-he's gone…?"

Nico nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry," he said.

As Jill's addled brain processed this news, Octavius began forcing people to leave, giving the Merlinian space. Rufus and a couple of other Romans helped him.

"Bring him back, Octavius," Jill said quietly.

Octavius turned. "Sorry?"

Jill shot to her feet and got angrily in Octavius's face. "I said bring him back!" she shrieked. "You brought Julius back, now bring Galahad back!"

"I can't," Octavius said, being extraordinarily brave for someone being threatened by a person who could kill him in a number of ways that was almost in triple digits. "Ahkmenrah told me that the power of the tablet can only be used to resurrect just once every ten years or so. There is no way to bring him back. I'm sorry."

Jill lashed out at Octavius, hitting him in the jaw. Athena immediately rushed forwards as Octavius took a step back, rubbing his jaw. His eyes held no malice; only sympathy and deep sadness, as he watched Jill stagger back to the body of her fiancé. Her legs buckling, she collapsed to her knees beside Galahad's body, threw herself over it, and sobbed her heart out. She couldn't help it. She didn't care that people were watching. All that mattered in that instant was the fact that her fiancé, the man she loved more than life itself, was gone, and he was never coming back this time. Octavius had brought Julius back, but Jill couldn't bring Galahad back. Resurrection couldn't happen this time around.

Jill had never wished to die so much than in that moment.

…

 **(4) = Sweet Caroline-Neil Diamond**

 **(5) = Don't Stop Me Now-Queen**

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry if the songs don't match the time period in both this chapter and the last one. I tried to find the "oldest" songs I could find that people might still recognise, but I actually have no idea what time period this is meant to take place in XD**


	49. Epilogue

From the balcony of the senate building, a lone figure watched the celebrations. He heard the screaming, the yell of pain, and the gunshot, and he knew that something must have happened. He was almost hoping that that meddling general had been the one to be shot. He had put a plan in place to deal with Octavius, but it would not be necessary if something had already happened to the general.

Unfortunately, however, he spotted the general trying to keep the crowd away from whoever had been hurt. Muttering a curse under his breath, he turned away from the view and leant against the stone railing.

Now that the humiliating ordeal of being captured by a powerful sorcerer was over, he could concentrate on his plan. He had three spies and a single assistant for this endeavour, but it was more than enough for now. There were only a few tasks that needed doing in order to gain full control over the exhibit. And one of those tasks was to do with Octavius.

A smile crept onto Petronius's face, but not of the friendly kind. "I hope your shield is strong, Octavius. For my sword is sharp and it is swinging your way."

...

 **Author's Note: AND THAT IS IT FOR DOAA! *cries* watch out for the sequel, coming soon :D**


End file.
